Ruth Sharp was determined not to let her hip replacement surgery keep her from one of her favorite activities.

Despite needing the aid of a walker in the early stages of her recovery process, the 73-year-old Air Force spouse continued to honor her volunteer commitment to the Retiree Activites Office at McChord.

“Except for my family, (volunteering) is the most important thing,” said Sharp, who volunteers between three to six hours a week.

Sharp’s volunteered at the RAO since her husband passed away in 2001, and is one of three widows in the dedicated crew of 31 volunteers who staff the desk in the customer service mall in Building 100.

“I enjoy it so much … the camaraderie is the number one thing,” she said.

The official mission of the RAO is to provide a continuous update of information helpful to Air Force retirees in the South Sound. That includes staffing the desk weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon and answering questions and referring retirees to the proper agencies on base that can better assist them with their needs. Office volunteers assist retirees with several actions ranging from serving as an information center for space-available travel, Tricare and base services; offering referrals for financial assistance and pay matters; counseling active-duty airmen nearing retirement; and providing literature on retirement issues.

“We’re more like a signpost,” said Norman Johnson, 72.

The RAO can be a lifesaver for widows who’ve recently lost their husband and need to tie up any loose ends with their survivor benefits — with a personal touch.

“Those are the ones that we personally escort to the casualty assistance office because they tend to feel lost,” said 70-year-old George Weirich, RAO director.

The office also started a program four years ago that helps remind retirees when their ID card is about to expire.

“Once they come by and register with us, we call them to give them a heads up in the future when their card is 30 days from expiring,” Weirich said. “It’s been an important program for us because if their card expires, it can be very difficult to get it renewed.”

Beyond the office’s mission, it’s also a place where many of the volunteers fulfill the need to give back to the military, while also forging new friendships.

“It’s the social interaction … you know the (military) language, you know what everybody has been through, and you’re bonded by the fact you enjoy helping people,” Johnson said.

Although the RAO volunteer roster slipped to single digits about seven years ago, the current dedicated group has worked hard to build it back up. Adding even more volunteers would enable the McChord RAO to experiment with staffing the desk for three more hours in the afternoon.

“We could offer more services and help more people,” Weirich said.

All across the Air Force retiree activities offices are struggling to retain volunteers, according to Air Force officials.

“All of the retiree activities offices are suffering for a new group of people to volunteer because the core of (current volunteers) are getting sick, getting older and passing away,” said Patricia Peek, Air Force chief of retirees services. “None of the retiree activities offices have a surplus of people; we need their time, their efforts and their talents at these offices.”

While the McChord RAO hosts a monthly meeting/social luncheon, a spring picnic and a retiree activities fair to help attract volunteers, those most closely involved with the office say building personal relationships is the best way to bring in new volunteers.

“While sometimes it’s a bit of a hard sell, I tell them that once they try it they’ll really like it,” said Randy MacIntosh, 74.

(Information from an Air Force News story contributed to this article.)