Volunteers with Disabilities help nonprofits across Brown County Zane Gilbert and Florence Reese were among the volunteers honored at the Volunteer Center's 'Volunteers with Disabilities Program' recognition picnic at the National Railroad Museum Tuesday (photo by H. Marc Larson). By Sarah Riley News-Chronicle Several very special volunteers here honored Tuesday for giving their time, even though it might be a little tougher them than for others. Participants in the Volunteers with Disabilities program of The Volunteer Center got together at the National Railroad Museum for their annual party. For Mike Ellis, a volunteer at Western Village Nursing Home, volunteering is a natural part of life. He's been doing it for 16 years. Ellis runs several activity groups at the home and leads the singing at church services. His latest activity with the residents was a game of Brain Quest, part of the "mind-stimulating stuff" he prepares. The game brought back a lot of memories about school days, he said. "We talked about one-room school houses," he said. The news group Ellis conducts centers around copies of the paper his Knights of Columbus buys. Leslie Schiller, director of Volunteers with Disabilities, matches people with physical and cognitive disabilities with service organizations in need of help. She works with about 100 volunteers who have been sent to nursing homes, day care centers, the Railroad Museum, animal shelters, and any nonprofit group who can work with the volunteer. "We are in the business of helping all people find volunteer opportunities that fit their skills," she said. "We try to work with all agencies and look at accommodations that can be made." The time volunteers give can be as short as a day or spread out over a year. The program started in the mid-1980s. Program participants got the chance to visit over dinner, ride a train at the museum and receive awards from Kevin Rompa of WBAY-TV Channel 2. "We're celebrating," Schiller said. The next big event where The Volunteer Center will be looking for new volunteers is the National Day of Service on Oct. 25. The center needs volunteers for a variety of projects it coordinates. For more information, call 429-9445.