By Cheryl Schweizer
Chronicle correspondent

     PATEROS - Volunteers in a small town do everything from planning celebrations to running food banks, staffing ambulance and fire departments, raising money for hospitals and helping neighbors in need.
     They see a project or a service and "they want it to happen and it isn't going to happen unless someone steps forward and helps," Pateros resident and volunteer Linda Marsh said.
     Marsh is part of the Apple Pie Jamboree Committee, works on the annual Pateros Chamber of Commerce banquet, Christmas at the Confluence and yard sales, and is among the volunteers working on a new Pateros museum.
     "There are always places to volunteer, it seems like," Marsh said.
     Becky Smith, Brewster, is part of the crew at the annual Budweiser-Lowrance King Salmon Derby in Brewster, has worked on Brewster Chamber of Commerce projects, the Christmas Shoppe, where children can pick out presents for family and friends, and the former Miss Brewster pageant.
     She makes and donates quilts as raffle prizes for various fund-raisers around town. She's a volunteer EMT for Douglas-Okanogan Fire District No. 15.
     Volunteering is a way she can help people, Smith said, and besides, it's fun.
     "I do it until it's not fun and then I change projects," she said.
     Marsh said that while the community benefits from volunteer efforts, so does the volunteer. The benefits usually don't stop when the project ends.
     The Apple Pie Jamboree provides a fun weekend for Pateros residents, but exists to raise money for youth projects from the school's ski club to swimming lessons.
     Volunteers who work the events meet others - people they might not know otherwise, she said.
     "Thereâs a benefit at the end of everything you volunteer for," Marsh said.
     Whatever the project is, it seems like there are a lot of side benefits. The only difficult part of volunteering is when too few people are trying to do too many jobs and burnout happens, she said.
     Volunteers plug those niches that might otherwise go unfilled, and each volunteer fills different niches within a project.
     Smith cited the example of the ambulance crew - some people concentrate on the immediate care of the patient, while others (like Smith) make sure the people around the scene have the help they need.
     "I'm the driver, and the gofer and hand-holder," she said.
     When there's an accident, fire department volunteers help direct traffic and help move stretchers.
     "I appreciate all those other people who are volunteering as well," Smith said.
     During the salmon derby, volunteers help weigh fish and sell raffle tickets, and "somebody has to bring the (wading) pond so we can put our feet in so we can keep cool," she said.
     There's a crew that makes the pies that give the Apple Pie Jamboree its name and others who man the ticket booth.
     Thereâs always plenty to do, Marsh said. Finding a project usually is pretty easy.
     "Sometimes it’s as simple as looking in the newspaper, or joining the chamber of commerce," she said. "Or calling city hall. Usually you can see it's a worthwhile benefit to your community to volunteer and do these things."