Hidden Hero
9/11 brings out the spirit of volunteerism in a Largo woman
By LESTER R. DAILEY
| Article published on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006 |
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| Georgia Wildrick displays a hand-beaded badger pelt pouch she made. |
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LARGO – As someone who likes to help others, Georgia Wildrick is a 30-gallon platelet donor, but she never had time to do volunteer work. When she heard of the 9/11 attacks, however, she immediately called Florida Blood Services to see if they needed any help.
“They said that they were desperate for help,” she recalled. “They were swamped.”
She went to FBS and did whatever was needed doing on that terrible day. And she was impressed by the selflessness of her fellow volunteers, especially an 80-year-old physician who came out of retirement to check the blood pressure of prospective blood donors.
Wildrick was bitten by the volunteer bug and has been volunteering at FBS, filing papers and stocking supplies, at least once a week since then. She is now taking the specialized training needed to handle the blood bags.
“They’re a wonderful group of people,” Wildrick said of FBS. But that’s not the only place she volunteers.
Fluent in German, Wildrick was asked to be a translator for two German kids who were in the Full Circle Program for handicapped children at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Miko had Down’s syndrome, and Mario had been hit by a train at the age of 11. The theory was that working with the aquarium’s animals, many of whom have their own disabilities, would be good therapy.
“It was very touching,” she said. “I had never worked with the handicapped before, and I found it very rewarding.”
She was especially thrilled when Mario’s motor skills developed to the point that he was able to throw squid to the fish.
“His mother told me that he hadn’t done anything like that since he was injured,” she said.
When she finished with Miko and Mario, Wildrick, an ardent environmentalist, went to Tampa Bay Watch, where she still volunteers. They recently completed a survey of the bay’s scallop population.
“We found 17-and-a-half scallops,” she said. “A whelk was in the process of eating one, so we counted it as a half.”
She also writes a monthly column, “Conservation Corner,” for the Clearwater Junior Women’s Club
newsletter. Carl Hiaasen, the environmentally-minded newspaper columnist and author, is her hero.
“People call me very passionate about the environment,” she said. “I believe that each state should have its own environmental efforts. Just because I’m fighting for wetlands here in Florida doesn’t mean that New Jersey has the same problems.”
Wildrick works as a part-time camera person, filming government meetings for the city of Largo’s Channel 15. She also volunteers for the city’s Community Emergency Response Team.
“It’s disaster preparation,” she explained. “It’s just people trying to help out their neighborhood. It’s basic triage, because we’re not trained medical personnel.”
In the event of a hurricane or other disaster, Wildrick would go around her neighborhood, providing basic first aid and summoning help for the injured, comforting people and providing information. She would also spray-paint makeshift street signs, to replace the ones that had been destroyed, so that rescuers from other areas can find their way around.
In 1985, she met Warren Wildrick, a disabled Special Forces veteran of the Vietnam War, and they were soon married.
“He was like a knight in shining armor,” she laughed. “It was a whirlwind romance.”
Warren had a deep interest in Native American culture and religion.
“As a child, Warren always loved Indians; to him they were the good guys,” Wildrick said. “He was initiated into the Comanche Little Ponies Warrior Society. That’s a big honor for a white person.”
Warren died last year, but Wildrick inherited his love of Native American culture. In addition to her museum-quality paintings, she does intricate Native American-style beadwork.
“What I like about the Native American spirituality is that you have a freedom with nature,” she explained.
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Article published on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006
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