In the back of a small and far from luxurious kitchen space meant for workers, sat Clyde and Connie, smiling at each other. Seeing as they weren’t being paid in the first place, this couple had things like a nice worker’s lounge far from their mind as they spoke of the service they so enjoyed at this facility.

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“When someone breaks down into tears thanking you for your help because they had a problem and didn’t know where else to go, you can’t help but feel good. It’s so fulfilling to know you have done something that can give someone courage and give them hope. That is really the key to serving,” said Clyde Stauffer as he sat next to his wife Connie in the back room of the local Volunteer Care Clinic.

Clyde and Connie met at Hill Air Force Base where they both worked. They have been married for 38 years, have five grown children, and 11 grandchildren with one on the way this coming October.

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The majority of Clyde’s career consisted of working in Sales and Marketing. Connie was a stay-at-home mom, yet both of them sought to make service an integral part of their everyday lives.

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The Stauffer’s are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both Clyde and Connie spent time serving in leadership positions. When they were released from those callings, they were introduced to the idea of working at Volunteer Care Clinic. They were eager to serve and were hired on to direct Tuesday nights.

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After serving for awhile in the clinic as the Tuesday evening directors, they were asked if they’d ben interested in taking the position of executive directors at the clinic. When the executive directs left about a year and a half ago, the Stauffer’s replaced with joy and vigor, ready to serve. At this same time, they remained executive directors and were officially called to be service missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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Being executive directors requires a lot of time and effort. The Stauffer’s time is spent making sure everything runs smoothly. Sometimes this can be difficult because a volunteer’s work schedule is not quite as consistent. As of late, some of the biggest struggles has been the amount of providers they have available. Sometimes it gets to the point where they are turning up to 30 people away who are in need of medical attention because there are only two volunteer doctors present at the clinic. Clyde and Connie try to find various ways to recruit doctors and nurses who can help.

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Clyde explained that the Volunteer Care Clinic is a medical facility meant to aid those living in poverty. They serve about 3,500 people per year. There is a large variety of people who come in for help. Some people are refugees from North Africa, some are Haitian or Brazilian, but 80% of the people there are hispanic and half of those don’t speak English. In order to qualify for care at the clinic, the people must live in Utah County, be within 150% of federal poverty level, and have no insurance.

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Although this clinic deals entirely with medical care, the Stauffer’s have no background in medicine. Clyde and Connie found that service is not about finding your comfort zone and doing what is easy. Service requires you to reach out to others even if you feel you are ill equipped for what is being asked of you. Of course, find where you can help most, but never be afraid to serve in an area that is not your expertise. They have found many youth who have been willing to volunteer whether or not they are wanting to do something with medicine.

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Connie feels like her service at the clinic has given her hope for the future because she is able to rub shoulders with youth of the upcoming generations who give up so much time to serve. She has experience first hand how service is able to lift others and lift yourself.

“It just feels good. You know you are doing the right thing. If we didn’t have this, we’d have to find something else to keep us doing something worthwhile. It’s called being anxiously engaged, and this is a good cause, so why not?” expressed Connie.

Volunteering has always been an essential part to the Stauffer’s lives and so they know that if their health allows them they would like to go on to serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.