We are endlessly grateful to our volunteers for giving their time to better the lives of those impacted by Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Our volunteers are truly the heart of the Alzheimer’s Association here in North Carolina.
In honor of National Volunteer Week 2025, we’ll be spotlighting a different volunteer from our Eastern North Carolina Chapter each day. Today we are featuring …
JUSTIN STOUT
Lenoir County
What brought you to volunteer with the Alzheimer’s Association?
My role as a community educator came from our overall partnership between Neuse Regional Libraries and the Alzheimer’s Association. The Association is really terrific about being willing to partner with other community organizations and has been one of our most reliable partners. As head of Information Services, I’m in charge of adult programming and do a lot of general literacy education for the public as well, so this role felt like a perfect fit.
What volunteer role(s) do you have with the Association?
I’m currently a Community Educator, where I offer education sessions for the general public, with the help of the Alzheimer’s Association’s fantastic resources. They do such a great job of giving us everything we need; even though we’re obviously not experts, the information and presentation materials they provide leave us fully prepared to give these presentations, and we always refer participants back to the Association for more information. I’m also looking forward to taking the Awareness Champion training in May.
What do you enjoy most about your volunteer role?
I really love to both learn and teach, and this role has given me plenty of opportunities to do both. It is always gratifying to be able to share the information you learn about a cause like this with others and help link them up with the resources they need.
What piece of your role do you feel makes the biggest impact?
Offering these programs in rural communities, we often hear from participants that they have a spouse or loved one who they believe may be displaying symptoms of Alzheimer’s or dementia, and this was one of the only opportunities they had to get more information on how to move forward. That kind of feedback makes it clear that the work the Alzheimer’s Association is doing is well worth it.
If someone were considering volunteering with the Association, what would you say to them?
I would say: don’t be intimidated, everyone can contribute. There are many different ways to volunteer, and we all have our own individual skills that we can help with. As I mentioned above, the Alzheimer’s Association does a wonderful job of preparing us, and we see firsthand the difference this kind of volunteering can make.
THANK YOU, JUSTIN!
Volunteers truly help move our mission forward. Interested in becoming a volunteer with the Alzheimer’s Association in NC? Visit alz.org/volunteer or call 800-272-3900.
Alzheimer's Association North Carolina Blog 