Corina Taylor has volunteered countless hours of charity work in the past 17 years in Merced.
So many that the 43-year-old has lost count.
She always wanted to give back and make a difference to the community she moved to in 1991. For example, in 2010 through 2011, she and other AT&T employees in Atwater, where she works, raised $53,158 for the United Way, a charity that helps many local organizations.
She also helps out at the Merced County Food Bank and has cooked a number of times at the D Street Shelter on 15th Street.
Her volunteering and charity work includes March of Dimes, United Way and Relay for Life.
But even years ago, when she was living in Hawaii as a child, her father was deeply involved in community service work. An owner of a construction company, he would do free construction work for people and take her along.
"We always had to work to help out," she recalled. "I just loved it because people were so grateful and happy and thankful. It just brought so much joy to someone and you're changing lives."
Taylor went on to volunteer her time during junior high school and high school at hospitals and convalescent homes.
In Merced, she's participated in community and graffiti cleanups. Her favorite memory was two years ago when she and other volunteers cleaned up the Loughborough area. Two dump trucks showed up to haul away the trash, but they had to come back twice because the volunteers had collected too much trash from residents and neighbors, she recalled.
She's passed on that sentiment to help out the community to her 10 grandchildren. She always brings along her oldest grandson to the Merced County Food Bank to volunteer.
Phyllis Legg, volunteer executive director, said she's seen Taylor volunteer at the food bank with various charities. "She's very efficient and she's very nice," Legg said. "She does it very joyfully with a very giving heart."
Legg said Taylor is one of those Mercedians who cares about others and volunteers at the food bank because she "she's got the heart to give back and she's willing to go out there and give her time to help out them and try to make their life a little better."
This year, Taylor's personal goal is to raise $10,000 for March of Dimes, a foundation that focuses on the health of babies and their mothers.
For more information or to volunteer for the March of Dimes on April 28 at Merced High School, go to www.marchforbabies.org/corina_taylor.
Reporter Ameera Butt can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or abutt@mercedsunstar.com.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 'Merced Matters' appears every Monday. In it we will tell the stories of Mercedians -- ordinary people doing extraordinary things, extraordinary people doing ordinary things and a lot in between. We hope you like our effort to let you know more about others in our community, and we welcome your suggestions. Please contact Mike Tharp at mtharp@mercedsun-star.com or (209) 385-2456 with your ideas for 'Merced Matters.'
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