The average person works just over 34 hours per week before they retire. But for lifetime Torrance resident Earl Eastcott this has continued through his retirement! For the past 15 years, Earl has volunteered a remarkable 40 hours per week at Beach Cities Health District’s Center for Health & Fitness (CHF).
Earl is about to move to Colorado to be near his daughter. So, this month we look back over the past 15 years to celebrate the incredible contribution that Earl has made.
It all started with Earl and a few of his friends joining CHF. For two years he got to know the staff, members and trainers and noticed they relied on volunteers for additional support. Having just retired and feeling there was a big gap in his life, Earl offered his time to help where he was needed. Most days, members would see Earl out on the gym floor with the instructors, answering questions or helping new members with the machines.
But volunteering 40 hours each week wasn’t enough for Earl. He came up with the idea of a challenge to get the CHF members more engaged and improve their fitness. The challenge was based on the professional football and baseball seasons. Each time a member came into the gym, they were eligible to fill out a ticket and predict the game winners that weekend. Quite simply, the more times they came into the gym, the greater the opportunity they had of winning – everyone loved it!
Earl explains that “it has been both a pleasurable and rewarding experience volunteering for BCHD and has made a good life for me. I have looked forward to arriving at CHF each day, interacting with the staff and gym members. I’d encourage anyone to get involved as a volunteer.”
CHF’s General Manager, Cindy Foster, added “Earl has provided a stellar 21,218 volunteer hours to CHF during his time with us! All our staff and members have seen the hard work and dedication Earl has given to CHF over the years; it is certainly a better place because of his service. We thank him and wish him all of the best in his next chapter of life!”
While everyone at CHF will be sad to see Earl leave, Colorado will certainly benefit from its new resident. You won’t be surprised to hear that Earl has already been to his daughter’s gym to ask about volunteering!!
Written by Sue Murray, Volunteer Spotlight Writer
