National Volunteer Week: Legacies of Impact
Floyd Kinser is pictured serving his first meal as a 90-year-old in the middle with the blue sweatshirt and blue ball cap.
On a trolley car in 1950s downtown Dallas, Floyd Kinser found his way to a life of service.
After graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in advertising, Kinser returned home to look for a job. The father of a friend ran the All Church Press - a weekly newspaper for Fort Worth churches - and was hiring. Kinser interviewed and got the job, but didn’t stay long.
“The youth fellowship group at UT invited me to our ranch near Kerrville,” Kinser said. “The leader challenged us all to go into the ministry. I took that challenge, quit my job and went into seminary. And the rest is history.”
Reverend Floyd Kinser co-chartered the Meals on Wheels Tarrant County after identifying needs for a coordinated program to respond to hunger in the Fort Worth community. He and two others from his church traveled to Kansas City for a two-week training on how to implement the national Meals on Wheels concept back home.
This idea was born from a 10-church association already responding to hunger, clothing, shelter and mental health needs in Tarrant County. His church, First Presbyterian, helped found a night shelter for homeless individuals and strengthened an Alzheimer’s center - the first of its kind in the area. One of the members of his congregation purchased the property and raised funds to help guide Fort Worth’s elderly population through the aging process.
While Reverend Kinser traveled all over Texas establishing churches and programs for those in need, his most substantive work started as an associate pastor at First Presbyterian, recruiting and training volunteers, while responding to the hungry who knocked on the church’s doors.
“I grew up close to the church and doing volunteer work, and if you didn’t have volunteers, the world still wouldn’t go ‘round,” Kinser said. “Your life in service to others is the real life you live. I’ve always served other people. You serve yourself by serving others.”
The father of three sons, Kinser has a very involved family. His children are involved in giving back in their professional lives, and his wife is a former librarian. Reverend Kinser’s service includes the planning committee that established Meals On Wheels Tarrant County, assisting the United Way, and serving on the board of the Area Agency on Aging and Guardianship Services, among others.
Kinser is again serving on the Meals On Wheels board of directors. He witnessed the opening of the organization’s first kitchen and office facility in 1989 and was able to attend the newest opening in March 2016.
Reverend Kinser has served as an advocate, volunteer and leader for Meals On Wheels for 45 years and just celebrated his 90th birthday on February 8, 2016. He still delivers meals with his sons.
“It’s a life of service that I built that way,” Kinser said. “If you’re involved in the community, you know what’s going on and you can correct it. Volunteers have fun, are enthusiastic and bring community together. They make a pretty big town into a community of love and caring.”
Ruth Altshuler: Dallas' ultimate volunteer
Ruth Altshuler defines what it means to be a community volunteer. Throughout more than six decades serving her hometown of Dallas as a civic leader, she blazed trails for women, mobilized support from her friends for worthy causes, and volunteered her time to transform Dallas. Mrs. Altshuler has served on numerous community boards, and for many of these organizations, she was the first woman to serve on and/or chair the board.
Her board leadership includes Southern Methodist University Board of Trustees, Communities Foundation of Texas, Salvation Army National Board and Salvation Army Dallas Advisory Board, United Way, Zale-Lipshy Hospital, and Goodwill Industries. Mrs. Altshuler credits her time with the Junior League of Dallas as sparking her lifelong commitment to transforming her community through volunteerism.