Quarter 1 2022 Volunteer of the Quarter

Meet Stephen Pursley, USO Stuttgart’s Volunteer of the Quarter!

Stephen Pursley began volunteering with USO Stuttgart, just four short months ago, in October 2021 and has already accumulated over 125 volunteer hours over 35 shifts! Stephen found the USO while looking for a place to give back to his community. Stephen recently switched from active-duty status to a reserve status which left him with lots of free time. From helping with center deep cleans to cooking and grilling, Stephen is happy to jump in wherever he is needed. He has supported our holiday events from Halloween Hot Dogs to Christmas Dinner, as well as acting as a center representative volunteer, by running the front desk. Stephen also enjoys attending volunteer orientations to share his volunteer experience with our new volunteers. During the holidays, knowing we were limited with hands in the kitchen, Stephen took home several turkeys to prep and cook! His ability to carve a 12 lb turkey in 4 minutes came in handy as we made 39 turkeys for Thanksgiving and 18 turkeys for Christmas. As lead volunteer for two events, Stephen planned our Army v. Navy event from scratch, coming up with themed snacks and fun giveaways, all while knowing he could not attend the event. For the second time as a lead volunteer, when EUCOM asked for support at their tree lighting at the last minute, Stephen stepped up and made sure that our community was supported with homemade hot chocolate and hot mulled cider which made for a great event to kick off our holiday season. For each event, he made shopping lists, looked up recipes, cooked, cleaned, and recruited volunteers to ensure all services provided to our community were nothing short of perfect. Recently, Stephen has stepped up to assist in leading our Volunteer Team Talks, showing his commitment to making the volunteer experience a positive one for all.

No matter how dirty the task or how last minute the event, we can always count on Stephen to be there! Thank you for all that you do for our community!