Escapees January-February 2023

organizations match RV-lifestyle volunteers with short-term projects around the nation. They help with everything from construction projects to repairs, cleaning, sewing and wherever a non-pro fi t needs assistance. In return for a designated amount of time (usually about six hours per day, four days per week), the organizations provide an RV parking spot with hookups or a honey wagon. Sometimes volunteers camp in a gorgeous fi eld on private land. In other places their parking spot is an actual RV park. But, in every case, the pop-up volunteer community is a lively setting that nurtures lifelong ties between travelers with similar values, goals and the love of RVing. The two charities sounded like the perfect way for the Hoyts to bring fellowship back into their nomadic life. However, they couldn’t choose just one. “We like to hedge our bets. So we joined both!” Sharon recalls. The ability to make a difference in new places has been everything they had hoped for and more. “It was like a missing piece of the puzzle,” says Ron. “It really was a way for us to have a purpose, and to not just go from place to place and hang out here and hang out there. There’s nothing wrong with that. We love hanging out! We love being tourists, but it (volunteering) really kind of completed the puzzle because we get a lot out of serving.”

Road-tripping enriches our lives in so many ways, but there can be a downside to chasing wanderlust, if you have the heart of a volun teer and want to give back to the world somehow. Finding organi zations where you can help out is challenging when you’re on unfa miliar ground for short periods. However, if this sounds like you, don’t give up. These Escapees’ show that helping others while on the go is easier than you might believe. Ron and Sharon Hoyt “I just don’t think I can be a tourist for the rest of my life,” says Sharon Hoyt. She and her husband, Ron, (Escapees #176815) have been avid RVers for over 20 years, but full-time RVing for less than one year after retiring from their professions. Before hitting the road, they were active members of their Methodist home church, where volunteerism is ingrained in the fabric of daily living. During one winter RV getaway to Florida, Sharon and Ron longed for a deep connec tion to their church community back in Texas. This key component of their life was absent, and that’s when the couple had the idea to research volunteer organizations that could meld the act of giving back with their Christian values and full-time travel. The Hoyt’s research fi rst revealed the NOMADS (“Nomads on a Mission Active in Divine Service”). Founded in 1988 by winter Texan RVers, NOMADS is a ministry of the Methodist church that connects volunteer RVers to other Methodist organizations around the country that need on-site help with various projects. During that initial search, the couple also discovered the SOWER Ministry (“Servants on Wheels Ever Ready"). Similar to the NOMADS, the organization is a non-denominational Christian ministry that helps other church based charities with volunteer labor. Both

“The ability to make a di ff erence in new places has been everything they had hoped for and more. ‘It was like a missing piece of the puzzle,’ says Ron.”

Ron and Sharon became full-time RVers in early 2022 and have served on a variety of projects ever since. “You get the best of both worlds!” Ron explains. "You get to travel, then, you get to feel like you’re part of some thing bigger. I like that.” From helping with maintenance needs for a charity that helps domestic violence survivors and children, to a Christian summer camp’s end-of-season clean-up, the couple loves the ability to give help where it’s needed while seeing new places.

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January/February 2023 ESCAPEES Magazine