Leonet: Williams Senior Center about building relationships

WILLIAMS, Ariz. - Maria Leonet loves the relationships she has formed at the Bill Williams Senior Center.

Leonet has been volunteering in the center's thrift store since October. She enjoys her job because she gets to see her regular customers.

"I like the people that come in," she said.

Leonet affectionately calls one young girl who frequents the thrift store "greñuda," which is Spanish for ruffled hair.

"And she thinks it's great," Leonet said. "She comes in and hugs me."

Another young customer enjoys looking through the thrift store's toy box, and another one comes in to talk and help hang up clothes.

"I have some that talk to me on a one-to-one basis that I think makes them feel good," Leonet said. "If they're having problems I'm going to listen. I can't do a lot for them but I can listen."

Leonet works in the thrift store Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

"We do a little bit of everything," Leonet said. "We take in whatever people donate. We look it over to make sure it's clean and presentable and hang it up. If it's not we dispose of it."

Besides working in the thrift store, Leonet likes to play Wii bowling at the senior center.

"I think everybody should join," she said. "It relieves your anxiety, your pressures by bowling. It helps you concentrate, because you have to concentrate on what you're doing."

Leonet also serves as vice president of the Bill Williams Senior Center.

Leonet, who was born and raised in Williams, has been coming to the senior center for about 25 years. When she first started coming to the center, it was located in the old elementary school building.

Leonet enjoys seeing her friends at the senior center. She's big on hugs. If someone at the senior center gets sick, Leonet sends a card to them.

"So that's how I keep myself busy, doing little things for myself and other people," she said.

If the senior center did not exist, Leonet said life would be very different.

"It would be sad, not just for me but for everybody else, because there wouldn't be a place to come and talk to everybody," she said.