Decades of Making a Difference: One Volunteer’s Lasting Impact

A young Jon Coppinger

Jon Coppinger’s commitment to serving others and raising funds for the neuromuscular disease community began more than four decades ago. The now 51-year-old, the Cleveland, Tennessee native began what would become a lifetime of volunteerism as a young toddler. When he was three years old, Jon’s mother instilled the value of altruism in her young son as she tasked him with collecting pennies from local stores and family members to donate to MDA. She was inspired by watching the MDA Telethon and decided to get involved, teaching her son that volunteering his time to serve others is an important and valuable trait.

“My mom got me involved when I was three. She would take me to shops and I would go around the neighborhood and collect pennies. She would give me a fishbowl and I would dump all of the pennies that I collected into the fishbowl and count them while I watched the MDA telethon,” Jon says. “Then we would go to our local NBC network affiliate (that hosted the telethon) and I would take the money to them to give to MDA.”

Throughout his childhood and young adulthood, Jon often brought a jar with him while visiting family and friends or running errands at local stores, continuing to collect money to donate to MDA. When he was 25 years old, he decided that he wanted to do more. MDA Summer Camp provided the perfect opportunity to do exactly that – and Jon found a volunteer role that would result in lifelong relationships and purpose.

A lasting passion and commitment

“In 1998, I thought there is something more that I want to do, more than just raising money. I am not one that dives into going out and doing new things, but I took a chance – and that first year, I just fell in love with it,” Jon says of volunteering as a camp counselor. “I had a great Camp Director who took a chance on me and who taught me a lot of stuff. I started volunteering at camp in 1999 and I am still a volunteer today. I eat, drink, sleep, and breathe camp.”

Jon with one of his former campers, Bobby Baird.

Like many people who have volunteered at MDA Summer Camp, Jon’s role as a counselor and his responsibilities to and relationships with the campers had a lasting impact. Camp is a unique and magical week of empowerment, growth, and – equally important – FUN, for both campers and volunteers. While campers find joy, freedom, and grace in an environment created to allow them to have adventures and try new activities surrounded by others like them and without barriers, volunteers find meaning and passion in being a part of facilitating that magic. Bringing joy and inclusion to campers has become Jon’s purpose in life, and the relationships that he has forged with campers have extended beyond that annual week of magic that he returns to year after year.

“The kids keep me going back – I love the kids,” Jon says. “I have a purpose, and I have a mission that will never be complete – to serve and give back to, not only the community, but the MDA summer camp community specifically. Because after camp and as they age out of certain programs, sometimes they don’t have as much interaction in the community as they did before. I stay in contact with them still.”

Jon keeps in touch with about a dozen campers that he has met over the many years at camp. Those campers who live locally, Jon will often go to a movie with or go out to lunch or dinner. For those who live further away, Jon keeps in touch with phone calls and sometimes plans visits with their families. He has traveled to Atlanta, GA, and Dallas, GA, on multiple occasions to visit with campers and their families, taking in a Jonas Brothers concert or going to the movie theater.

A quilt made from Jon’s many MDA t-shirts, collected throughout his years volunteering.

“My favorite thing about camp, the number one thing, is the kids. Having the opportunity to build lifetime relationships with them and just having fun and kidding with them,” Jon says. “Being able to show them that others can see them for who they are, not for their disability, and that they belong. And camp helps them to lose their shyness, to come out of their shells. They light the camp on fire with their personalities, they just light the whole camp up.”

Many sides of impact

Just as his service leaves a lasting impact on the campers and community, it is also a source of great personal purpose and passion for Jon. The opportunity to provide care at camp, empower growth and independence, cultivate friendships, and build positive relationships with campers is immeasurably rewarding and meaningful. And the impact of his experiences as a volunteer extends into his own personal life and growth as well.

Jon and his mother, Mary Lane Timpany

“It has helped me to grow a tremendous amount,” Jon says. “It has brought me out of my shell, I am not as shy as I used to be. I talk about Camp all the time, and nobody can get me to stay quiet now! I go to local MDA events and am part of a community that I care about.”

Jon participates in Fill-the-Boot events, has attended the Black & Blue Ball and other Nashville galas, volunteers at as many other local MDA events as he can – and of course, continues to volunteer each summer at MDA Summer Camp.

The skills and training that Jon has acquired as a counselor have also served him well in handling emergency situations and providing hands on care to others. As his grandparents aged, Jon felt well equipped to provide personal care to them after many summers doing the same for campers. When his mother had a mini stroke earlier this year, Jon used his skills and expertise to stay calm and quickly call 911, and later provide her care at home as she recovered.

“My mom was so impressed when I helped her because I used all of the stuff that I had learned from camp about how to be a caregiver,” Jon says. “Everything I learned from camp I took home and was able to teach her about transfers and other things to help her in her recovery.”

A volunteer for life

What began as a desire to make a positive impact on others and give back to the community has evolved into finding his own life’s passion. Through decades of aspiring to make a difference, Jon has impacted the lives of countless individuals and has added joy and purpose to his own life. When asked what he would say to someone who has never volunteered but might be interested in volunteering at MDA Summer Camp for the first time, his answer was simple: Do it.

“I would tell them to do it. That it is a life-changing experience. That they will fall in love with the kids. That they will have more fun than they can imagine. That they will want to come back again and again,” Jon says. “And that camp will help them grow too – it is a learning tool because it will change their lives and help them to care for their own families and friends. And it will add so much meaning and joy to their lives.”