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Past Volunteer Spotlights

Harriet "Belle" Dyer

What does "retirement" look like for a career RN with many years of varied experience? Including clinical experience as night nurse manager of a local rest home, a long-time volunteer Emergency Medical Technician serving the "hilltown" communities of Franklin County and a long time member of the Colrain Board of Health, Harriet "Belle" Dyer may be busier today than she was several years ago in all these roles. Belle continues to wear many hats in service to the Franklin County region, and she has made significant contributions as a founding member of the Franklin County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC).

Working as a community volunteer, Belle has served on many committees formed under the Franklin Regional Council of Government to address regional needs over the years. In 2002, when the concept of developing a MRC for the region was first considered, Belle sat with other members of the Franklin County Local Emergency Planning Committee to discuss taking on the role as the region's Citizen Corps Council. She completed Citizen Emergency Response Team Train-the-Trainer courses before the Franklin County MRC project started, and she has been an active participant or assistant trainer in almost all trainings and other workshops held since the Franklin County MRC was formed in the fall of 2003.

Not one for fanfare, Belle has contributed a little bit every day, in her own quiet and consistent way, as one of the volunteers for the Franklin County MRC. She has worked at a dispensing site for flu, pneumonia and tetanus shots. Belle contributed towards regional efforts to aid victims of the October 2005 flooding, working in the American Red Cross office to deal with the backlog of paperwork. When asked why she participates in the MRC, Belle notes that "medical professionals need all the help they can get from great volunteers." She feels that volunteering with the MRC gives her time to get to know her peers, especially if they have some medical knowledge.

From the start, Belle has been at the table, in the classroom and in the community helping to realize the mission of the Franklin County MRC to augment public health and safety systems and to strengthen local and regional emergency preparedness. She urges anyone who is interested in volunteering for their communities to "go for it" and join local MRCs.