Each month, Eagle Radio in Great Bend will recognize groups or individuals that make a big impact on our community. This Appreciation Month is highlighting volunteers.
By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post
Dominican Sister Annette Winter formally dedicated herself to a lifetime of service more than 60 years ago. So it is not surprising that she was willing to help when a volunteer was needed to drive local residents to medical appointments. Several years ago, Sister Annette became part of a group of volunteers with RSVP/Volunteers in Action of Central Kansas. In 2017, she was honored as “Volunteer of the Year” with that organization.
Born at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita in 1940, Sister Annette grew up on a farm west of Wichita where she was expected to help around the farm. She learned about hard work by taking care of chickens, sheep and cows. The oldest of eight children (six girls and two boys), she attended a Catholic grade school six miles from her home. When she was finishing eighth grade, Sister Annette remembers how an invitation to visit the prep school at the Immaculate Conception Convent in Great Bend set her on a path to becoming a Catholic nun.
“They were trying to decide where I was going to go to high school,” she remembered. “Was it going to be Goddard, was it going to be Garden Plain or was it going to be Sacred Heart in Wichita? Somehow, we got invited to come up to the Motherhouse to what they called Vocation Day. All the eighth-graders from all the schools that the sisters taught in were invited to go. So all the girls in my class went. My mother drove one of the cars up that day. I don’t know, it just felt right. That’s how I got into prep school and I wanted to continue on. I ended up entering and that was it.”
It was during her high school years in Great Bend that she chose to take vows to become a Dominican Sister.
In recent years, Sister Annette has dedicated much of her time in helping with Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas. She recalls that Rebecca Ford with Catholic Charities told her about the need for a volunteer medical transport driver. Sister Annette didn’t hesitate to help out.
As an RSVP volunteer, she has driven people to medical appointments in a number of locations including Wichita, Salina, Hays, Ellinwood and Larned. She used to go into the waiting room with the medical patients. But since the Covid-19 pandemic began, she waits in her vehicle and works on craft projects, usually crocheting.
Sister Annette knows that she is providing an essential service to people she is helping no matter what their medical needs are.
“I think every time I take somebody, it’s important for them, that they get to that medical appointment,” she said. “I think each person is special.”
People who count on Sister Annette for transportation can expect to see her behind the wheel of a car for some time to come. She’s not ready to retire from volunteering.
“I haven’t thought about quitting,” she proclaimed. “As long as I can keep doing it, I intend to try if they’ll accept me. I’ll keep doing it.”
Read the previous Appreciation Month stories by clicking HERE.