2026 January Volunteer of the Month - Sarah & Ryan Thoms

United Way of Greater Yankton believes volunteers are essential in making our community a better place. Each month, we celebrate the power of individuals who generously give their time and talents to strengthen the organizations that serve others. Yankton Area Ice Association has long been a valued United Way partner, helping meet the hockey and figure skating needs of our community. In January, we were honored to recognize two remarkable volunteers whose dedication have helped keep things running smoothly both on and off the ice — Sarah and Ryan Thoms! We asked Sarah and Ryan to share a little more about their volunteer journey and what service means to them:

We have lived here in the Greater Yankton area since: 2004

We began volunteering: We began volunteering with our parents and grandparents; Sarah has been employed with First Dakota National Bank for 21+ years, so it was easy to get involved in the Yankton community when we moved here.

We volunteer at the following organizations: We currently spend most of our volunteer hours at Yankton Ice as a Learn to Skate coach and wherever else is needed. Ryan in the past has been a volunteer coach of hockey, rec soccer, baseball, football and lacrosse.  Sarah is a past board member of Yankton Ice having served as President & Secretary. We have also helped at The Banquet, Clothing Closet, Meals on Wheels, Sack Pack, St. John’s Church Education committee & VBS.

Approximate hours per year that I volunteer: We don’t keep track but it’s a few. We never counted the many hours we volunteered. Our focus is always on making the most impact we could with what we had to offer.

Volunteer work is enjoyable because: We all have been blessed with time and talents, and it seems like such a waste of a blessing if we aren’t using them for the greater good of each other’s well-being.

My best volunteer experience was: All of them have been meaningful, especially those where you get to see the smiles and appreciation of helping a child learn and master a new skill or delivering, preparing or serving a meal to someone that may not have had one otherwise.

The advice I would give to those thinking about getting out there and volunteer in their communities is: All of the programs/resources that are available to benefit our communities need Donors and Doers. At different stages in our lives at least consider what you can do to help by donating, doing or both. i.e. When our boys were young, we couldn’t donate a lot of money but, we could find more time to be the “Doers” to help put the dollars donated to work. And adjust your contribution as you adjust to the different stages of life with kindness and integrity as your guide. Great people coming together for each other creates a great community to live and raise our families!

Thank you, Sarah & Ryan, for all you do! To learn more about local volunteer opportunities or to nominate someone for United Way’s Volunteer of the Month Award, please visit www.yanktonunitedway.org/volunteer, email volunteer@yanktonunitedway.org, or call United Way of Greater Yankton at (605) 665-6766.