VHA Helping Hands Board

Peter ​​​​​Russell

VHA President • Helping Hands - Sole Member

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There are many autobiographies that are long and frankly boring. I intend to take the long part of that equation out of play. I was born and raised in northern Maine near the City of Caribou. As with all fortunate young people, I attended local schools. My parents were successful farmers and community leaders. Those attributes were passed down.

After attending New England College in Henniker, NH it became necessary for me to attend basic training at Fort Dix, NJ. I spent my required six years in the NH National Guard. New Hampshire seemed a wonderful place to live and raise a family. We lived in Contoocook Village, part of the Town of Hopkinton, for 47 years. While in Hopkinton I was fortunate to be appointed to many boards and elected to others. During those years, we also cleared land and created a certified organic blueberry farm. That endeavor was one of the most satisfying. Having your hands in clean living soil is good for the soul.

Victoria and I live in the Village of Pine Hills where we are fortunate to enjoy the many available benefits of living in The Villages. Here we continue to Live the Dream.

Al Arnold

Helping Hands - President

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Mike Dollard

Treasurer

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I am from Western NY, spent my entire real-life career in government accounting/management. (Sounds like an oxymoron but western NY had been doing quite well until the last decade)

Professionally, in reverse order, I was

A) A town manager for 12 years until retirement.

B) The Chief of Accounting for a county

C) An accountant/auditor strictly in the municipal field.  From this I developed a reputation for helping troubled units get out of fiscal stress and turning around units that had "run off the rails"

I also had a second career, I was licensed as an EMT/EMT-A for 34 years, originally as a part time volunteer.  When volunteerism began to disappear I worked for municipal and commercial firms.  After a benevolent early retirement I did it full time for several years until we came here.  My claim to fame here is that I delivered 9 babies.

Brenda Hein

Assistant Vice President • Helping Hands - Director

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A resident of the Village of Richmond since 2023, I am a native of Ohio.

I grew up on the west side of Cleveland and participated in 4-H and showed quarter horses. I was an America Field Service (AFS) foreign exchange student to Thailand in 1977. I went to The Ohio State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.

I married my late husband who was a full-time farmer in 1984. I was widowed in 1997 and have two children and five grandchildren. I worked for the T. Marzetti Company in Columbus, OH for 39 years starting out in Quality Assurance, but also worked in R & D and for the last 25 years in Procurement. I was Director of Packaging Procurement when I retired in 2022. I raised my children in Marysville, Ohio where I was a 4-H Leader for many years as well as volunteering with Big Brother Big Sister, United Way, our local food pantry, and hospital auxiliary, and served as PTO President.

I was fortunate to be offered an early retirement package from my former employer in 2022 and decided to move to The Villages, where I have been visiting my sister and her husband for many years. Since moving to The Villages, I have been enjoying meeting my neighbors and becoming involved in the community. I started the Richmond Readers Book Club, joined the Richmond Caring Neighbors group, The Village Bonsai Club, The Villages Genealogy Club and The VHA. I love to garden, read, play cards and travel. I have always enjoyed traveling, but now that I am retired, I plan to travel even more. I have been volunteering with The VHA Helping Hands as the Tuesday Coordinator since November 2023, which I love doing, it is such a great program to be involved with. I have been the Richmond VHA Neighborhood Representative, and recently accepted the position of VHA Assistant VP. I love living in The Villages and look forward to serving its residents.