The Volunteers: Mr. and Mrs. Strong of Glen Burnie are one of a few couples who volunteer for PATH (People Aiding Travelers and the Homeless) at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Mrs. Strong worked at an airport flower shop for about 12 years and so enjoyed the busy environment of the terminal that she joined the PATH volunteers about seven years ago.
She is at the information booth two days a week. Mr. Strong, who won PATH's 1994 Julius H. Taylor Outstanding Volunteer Award, is the site coordinator, filling in for absent volunteers and maintaining records and logs for the BWI site.
Mr. Strong, a retired Westinghouse engineering manager, also volunteers one day a week at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
The Strongs have lived in Glen Burnie for more than 30 years and have been married for 45 years.
Karen Singer, PATH president, wrote that Mr. Strong was "an excellent PATH representative. Thanks to Mr. Strong's able leadership on-site at BWI, the traveling public continues to receive world-class service from our entire corps of volunteers at BWI . . . [He] is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished through volunteerism."
Mr. Strong's comments: "The mission at the airport is in three functions. The first is the traveler aid function, to assist people who are stuck at the airport for one reason or another without funds or without a place to stay.
"The second function is dealing with everyday operations and answering questions about getting around the airport. The whole realm of making it a user-friendly airport, how to get downtown or wherever.
"The third function, which is kind of unique to travelers-aid type booths, is we have a rather complete line of Maryland tourist information so we can provide the tourist with all the information they can handle. Our volunteers are quite active in pushing that.
"We can handle almost any problem that comes up. We have a number of people who are adept at foreign languages.
"There are some other couples who volunteer. It's a good common interest."
About the organization: In addition to the travelers-aid program, PATH also helps the homeless find jobs and housing.
For more information on PATH's volunteer opportunities, call 685-3569.
"Volunteer Spotlight" is compiled by Kevin Harrison. To recommend someone, call the Anne Arundel Bureau at 315-8911, or fax information to 315-8916 or mail it to: The Sun for Anne Arundel, 8131 Ritchie Highway, Pasadena, 21122.