- November 23, 2024
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Organizing is Elinor Sheriff's specialty.
When she began volunteering with the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties two years ago, the nonprofit's garage was full to the brim with clothing and household items, which are donated to help local families in need. The Jewish Federation just had too many items.
"This was a hoarder’s garage — all the way up to the ceiling," Sheriff said. "Boxes, bags, just a disaster. That year, I cleaned it up and in February of 2020, we had our first garage sale and made a little over $2,000 in a weekend."
Then, COVID-19 impacted everything, and the garage began filling up again. So Sheriff went to work again, and now, she jokes she's organized herself out of a job. Not quite though — since Executive Director Gloria Max's death in September, it's been all hands on deck at the Jewish Federation's Jerry Doliner Food Bank. Sheriff, like many other volunteers, has increased the amount of hours she donates to the nonprofit.
“It’s very rewarding to see the people that come weekly, and they’re so happy that they can get free clothes, free toiletries," she said.
Organizing the food bank's garage was not the first big project Sheriff has taken on. Over the past few years, she's tackled seven "hoarders" houses; Some, she helped prepare for estate sales, and others — as was the case of one flooded home in the Tomoka Estates area — she helped the owner empty out. Whatever can be salvaged Sheriff will take to a local thrift store.
“I hate to see stuff go to the dump that can be used," Sheriff said.
She's also no stranger to serving her community.
“Ellie is the kind of individual that you can always count on to be there. She’s always there. She’s a wonderful organizer. She’s very professional, she knows how to deal with people, and she knows how to talk to people.”
Randy Macdonald, fellow Jewish Federation volunteer
After working for an insurance company for 12 years, she spent the next three working at the Daytona Pennysaver before she began her own lawn service company. At the time, she lived in The Village community, and noticed that the common lawn areas were not being properly taken care of. Sheriff then took it upon herself to fix the issue.
“I had a little train and I’d drive around the neighborhood, pulling all my stuff," she recalled.
Sheriff did that for 22 years.
When her kids were young, she also coached their softball teams, and served on the city's Recreation Advisory Committee, later renamed the Recreation Advisory Board, from 1987-1994. During her time in the board, she and Ormond Beach resident Muffi Chanfrau worked on a "teen task force" to organize monthly teen activities, which resulted in the city's use of The Coliseum in Daytona Beach for Monday night teen dances in the 1980s. Sheriff also served on the city's Quality of Life Advisory Board in 1995.
Sheriff, who wears her last name on a sheriff's badge pendant around her neck, lives by two words: Be kind.
Whether it's helping out in the Jewish Federation by answering phones, sorting vegetables, or making sure clothing items are organized for the community, Sheriff is ready to lend a hand. It's just the kind of person she's always been, she said.
“If I saw someone on the side of the road that needed help, I’d stop," Sheriff said. "A lot of people just drive by. As a matter of fact, I have gone to McDonald’s when they’ve had buy-one-get-one-free sandwiches, and I get two and then I find somebody who’s sitting on the side of the road and give them the other sandwich."
But she doesn't think this sets her apart from the other volunteers. They all pitch in when needed, and are there to support one another in whatever needs to get done. Many of them are "self-starters," she said, and don't need to be told what needs to be done around the food bank.
“This is such a good group of people to work with," Sheriff said. "Everybody will jump in and do what needs to be done to get the job done.”
