By Kaitlin Candelaria
Stacey Morales has been involved in the Service Guild of Birmingham for seven years and has done a little bit of everything.
Currently the organization’s president, Morales got involved with the group after leaving her job as a labor and delivery nurse to spend more time at home with her two children.
When a friend asked her to join the Service Guild, she knew it was a perfect fit, she said.
“I loved how this fulfilled my passion of working with families and children and the fact that Service Guild members volunteer one-on-one with children receiving therapy at The Bell Center,” Morales said. “I got to see babies that I’d seen be born with developmental delays receive treatment at The Bell Center.”
In the past seven years, Morales has become even more deeply invested in The Bell Center’s mission, she said.
“It’s important, because you can see an immediate impact in the classroom from week to week when you volunteer with a child,” Morales said. “On the level I’m at now as president, I’m very involved in the fundraising portion of the Guild’s mission, so I can see our dollars immediately impact the ability of The Bell Center to provide services for children with development delay.”
Morales, who has lived in Birmingham with her husband for the past 12 years, is now in the process of preparing for the Service Guild’s 27th annual gala, set for March 14 at The Club.
Morales was the chairman of the gala in 2013 and has worked closely with this year’s chairman, Daley King, to ensure another successful event.
“This is the Guild’s largest fundraiser for The Bell Center, and it’s a lot of fun,” Morales said. “We have great auction items, and people have a great time and know that their dollars go straight back to The Bell Center. We always want as many people to attend as possible — whether they come to spend money or not is not always the point. We want people there to be exposed to the work of the Guild and The Bell Center.”
The Service Guild of Birmingham is over 50 years old and was established by Birmingham women who banded together to serve the needs of children with disabilities.
In 1984, the Guild identified early intervention for children with developmental delays as an important and innovative mission to rally around. Betty Bell, a Birmingham resident who had provided early intervention services for one of the member’s children, was brought on board to assist in establishing a program, and The Bell Center was born.
“I love the analogy that The Bell Center is our baby, but our baby has grown up,” Morales said. “They are now their own 501(c)(3) nonprofit, as are we. They service 100 children throughout approximately 10 counties in the central Alabama area. The Service Guild’s purpose right now is to support The Bell Center through fundraising and volunteering.”
Guild members are given the opportunity to work one-on-one with children receiving services at The Bell Center alongside four teachers. The teachers control the classroom and curriculum, and the volunteers facilitate the therapy to help each child reach his or her full potential.
The Service Guild is always looking for more volunteers, Morales said.
“We are a growing organization, and when you volunteer here, you will truly see an immediate impact when you volunteer with children at The Bell Center,” Morales said. “I think the volunteer spirit in the Birmingham community is so strong. We are really privileged here to have so many men and women who are willing to give their time and to give financially. To give without receiving is the greatest gift.”
