June 15, 2018 – A local man calls the mornings he spends volunteering for the Good Samaritan Center his “two-hour Tuesdays.”
“It’s two hours, that’s all,” Shaun Pontalion said as he maneuvered a sofa to add to the growing pile of donations he picked up in the increasing heat of the morning. “It’s no big deal.”
But to Martha Buckman, center director, Pontalion’s faithful volunteering is a big deal. That sort of volunteerism makes an impact in the community. Pontalion shows up faithfully for his “two-hour Tuesday” every week. He takes the center’s box truck and makes stops at local merchants like Walmart and Price Chopper, that set food aside for donations. This week, he made an extra stop where chairs and tables waited for donation from another local business.
“You never know what you’re going to pick up,” Pontalion said as he hefted another piece of furniture into the truck, settling it in around the loaves of bread, cartons of eggs and other foodstuffs. “This week, it’s a couple of couches. Last week, we had about forty turkeys donated. Each box had four frozen turkeys and weighed at least 40 pounds. They were heavy.”
Shaun made an unexpected stop to pick up donated furniture.
Pontalion’s relationship with helping others, particularly through the Good Samaritan Center, goes back a long time, but he also has a deeply personal connection to the center. They were there for him during a very hard part of his life. In turn, he vowed to always be there for them, as well—even if it just meant helping unload a truck while he waited to shop the pantry for his own family.
Two years ago, Pontalion returned to his workplace after his lunchbreak, which he spent at Good Samaritan Center, to find he no longer had a job.
“I worked there for ten-and-a-half years,” Pontalion said. “Almost six in that position. They said they wanted to take the department in a different direction.” He shrugged and hefted another box into the truck. “I don’t have any hard feelings towards them.”
What he did have, though, were three children at home, and their mother, who struggled with addiction, living in an apartment in Edwardsville. Pontalion was now a single dad who was also unemployed.
“My kids were scared when I told them, but we went swimming up at the community center, and had pizza, and I told them it would be fine,” Pontalion said.
After his kids went to bed, Pontalion noticed he had several missed calls from his former mother-in-law. When he called her back, he was hit again with hard news.
The mother of his children died in an apartment fire.
“She had cooked some breakfast and fell asleep with the stove still on,” he said. “They found her about four feet from the door, with a head contusion. They think she may have tripped over the coffee table on her way out.”
After telling his three children their father had lost his job, he now had to tell them they had lost their mother, and through it all, remain strong and stable for them.
It was a dark time, Pontalion said, but being a father came first, and so he focused on his children. In the meanwhile, the Good Samaritan Center was there to help. Having access to the resources provided there helped alleviate some of the darkness.
Now, two years after what he described as the worst day of his life, Pontalion has a much better job than the one he initially lost. His kids still miss their mother, but Pontalion says he makes sure they know that she was loved.
“After all, we had three kids together,” he said. “I loved her.” He focuses on that.
He also does his “two-hour Tuesday,” never forgetting that the center was there for him when he needed it. He’s keeping his part of the vow he made.
“The volunteering is for me,” Pontalion said. “It’s almost a selfish act. You’re giving back, but what it does for a person here,” he explained, pointing to his heart, “is worth way more than the jobs you do.”
Thomas Barron, who also volunteers at the center, agrees, and said that the community is always in need of more hands to help.
“There’s always something to do. The great thing about the Good Samaritan Center is there are willing hands, but there is always a need for more willing hands to help,” Barron said.
“If you have an organization that has helped you and you are thankful for that, find a way to return the favor,” Pontalion said, adding that he is a “huge believer in karma.”
“Find a way to be involved in your community, however you can, at whatever cost,” Pontalion said. “You won’t regret it. Even though you are doing something for the greater good, you are also doing something for yourself.”
Willing hands and hearts like those of Pontalion and Barron are what allows the center to continue in the community. Buckman says she understands that giving back makes Pontalion feel good but added that the center deeply appreciates the work he and other volunteers do for the community.
“He comes from such a giving spirit, a generous giving spirit, that’s the biggest thing I can say about him,” Buckman said.