Community Assistance Center leadership threw one of the nonprofit’s weekly volunteers a surprise party for her 100th birthday on June 28 at its food pantry on Roswell Road.
CAC CEO and President Francis K. Horton III said it was important to celebrate a remarkable member of the community and the nonprofit’s eldest volunteer on record. Since moving to Atlanta at the age of 96, Margaret Lines has spent almost every Tuesday stocking the mini-market with her daughter before hitting the bowling alley.
“Regular volunteers, those folks who come in every week … that’s what we really like to see,” Horton said, holding a piece of birthday cake. “Margaret is one of those; she pops in here. She’s 100 years old, and she pops in here, right? She and her daughter do their thing … they’re the epitome of volunteers.”
Lines’ incredible story
Horton described Lines and her daughter Nancy Overheim as “consistent and faithful.” Other nonprofit staff called Lines “exceptional” and “inspiring in how she keeps on living a full life filled with her passions and giving back.”
“A lot more consistent than some of the 40-year-olds [volunteers],” Horton said, cracking a smile. “It’s an amazing thing at 100 years old saying, ‘I need something else to do.'”
Lines was born in southern Indiana on July 28, 1926, the same year Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel and Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket. She lived and worked all over the state before moving to Arizona, a state that she still loves.
Lines continues to live independently in a care home in Peachtree Corners, takes very little medication, and does not like to sit down.
“We’ve been coming every week,” Lines said. “We stock the shelves and keep particular sections full. We do a lot of other things in the general area, cleaning up and whatever.”
Her hobbies include daily walks, playing piano and bridge, puzzling, watching Purdue University football and basketball, attending church and Bible study classes, and reading. Lines was a student-athlete herself, bowling competitively as a freshman under a 4-H scholarship.
Mother-daughter bond
Lines worked as a registered dietitian for three decades. While living in Arizona, she counseled cancer patients after retirement with her wealth of experience as a 43-year breast cancer survivor.
Nancy Overheim, her daughter, said Lines gave up her friends, car, routine, volunteer work, and church community when she moved to Atlanta. The CAC fit right into their schedules.
Every Tuesday, Overheim and Lines volunteer at one of the Community Assistance Center’s three mini-markets in metro Atlanta’s Central Perimeter. Afterward, they drive over the county line to Dunwoody to bowl a few games at Big Play Atlanta.
Her daughter said, with more than eight decades of experience and her own ball, Margaret usually beats her. Like her mom, Overheim stays active, particularly with swimming.
“I’m like her; I can’t sit still,” Overheim said. “It’s a mindset.”
Overheim said bowling at Big Play with her mom is awesome, especially with two-dollar Tuesdays and Lines’ new group of friends.
“Right now, we have like six people who come up there, and they love it,” she said. “They’re addicted.”
Volunteers needed
Last year, the Community Assistance Center served 9,632 clients through all programs, prevented 1,108 evictions, and distributed 1.1 million pounds of food. More than 90% of clients reached housing stability, and 68% resolved their crisis six months after receiving financial assistance.
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Horton, leading the nonprofit’s effort to assist with neighbors’ basic needs in the community, said more regular volunteers are needed. It’s a theme across metro Atlanta: the need for more people willing to sacrifice some of their time.
“Friday afternoons, in particular, we need people to come and help prepare for Saturdays,” Horton said, also identifying Wednesday afternoons as a gap. “We’re open Saturdays now. Those are the two particular times. We train everybody that comes so they know what they’re doing.”
While the CAC averages 520 volunteers a month, nonprofit leadership and staff said they can always use more help. Read more and sign up here.
Advice to youngsters
When asked how she would promote the CAC’s food pantry and volunteer opportunities to unwitting community members, Lines posed a question.
“Well, I would say, what are you doing for your community?” she said. “That would be my first question … Is there anything you’re doing? Are you just sitting there, twiddling your thumbs and doing your knitting?”
Before Lines moved to Atlanta four years ago, her daughter Nancy said she needed to find places where her mom could volunteer that fit her schedule.
After leaving about a dozen community and social obligations behind in Arizona, Lines said she wasn’t happy to sit around her care home, which she sees a lot of residents doing. While her pace has slowed a bit, she’s as active as anyone half her age.
“Stay active,” Lines said. “Eat right. Challenge your mind. Socialize and keep a positive attitude.”
