Reliable helping hand waves goodbye to ACCA

FAMILIAR FACE: Marguerite Taylor gave up her 80 to 90 hours-per-month volunteer position at ACCA recently due to health concerns.

The annual recognition dinner for members and volunteers of Anderson Cottonwood Christian Assistance March 13 will honor the recent retirement of Marguerite Taylor.

Taylor, 83, was a reliable force at the South County food bank and assistance center, working as the nonprofit's secretary and office manager for 23 years.

"I liked it there because I like helping people," Taylor said in an interview at her Redding home. "We gave more than food there. Sometimes people just need someone to talk to."

Taylor helped by taking minutes at meetings, keeping track of the organization's service statistics, tracking invoices and sending thank-you notes, she said.

She had to resign from her volunteer work for health reasons, Taylor said, as she can't stand long enough to remove her wheelchair from her van without help.

Now devoted to her physical therapy sessions, Taylor said that last week she was able to walk farther than she has in ten years.

"I can't just sit around here and do nothing," she said, adding that she has always worked physical jobs.

Her first job when growing up in Illinois during the Great Depression was as a newspaper carrier. She later moved to Long Beach in 1944 and worked backing rivets in a defense plant.

Taylor eventually moved to Anderson and worked in turn as a waitress at the former Doc Cleary's Hilltop in Redding and as a floral designer at the former Anderson Flower Shop and Nursery in Cottonwood.

No longer a volunteer at the ACCA, Taylor said she will still volunteer as a cashier for monthly breakfasts at the Frontier Senior Center.

Her daughter, Lori Scott, currently holds a few titles as Shasta County treasurer, tax collector and public administrator. Those involved with ACCA are invited to its annual recognition dinner, 6 p.m. on March 13, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 3141 St. Stephens Dr., in Anderson.