FOR A GOOD CAUSE -- More than a member

-- Story by Danette Goulet; photo by Sean Hiller.

Five days a week for the last two years, Mary Anne Bane has shown up

at the Costa Mesa Senior Center to offer her assistance.

“Well, except those days that I’m taking someone to a doctor’s

appointment,” she said.

A mother of three, grandmother to four and a retired nurse of 20

years, including a 15-year stint at Costa Mesa Hospital, Bane began

volunteering at the center when a friend suggested it two years ago.

“They made me feel very welcome,” she said. “So I began coming for

lunch every day.”

Soon she was spending three hours a week rolling silverware in napkins

and wrapping donated presents.

But Bane is not just a volunteer; she is also a senior center member.

She pays her annual $12 dues, which, she said, entitles her to a copy

of the Chronicle newsletter, a free birthday dinner and admittance to the

center’s monthly meetings.

The best part about her time at the center, however, is the personal

help that she is able to give, she said.

“My most satisfying thing is taking certain people who are not able to

drive to doctor’s appointments,” she said. “I take a couple people to the

Orange County Food Pantry, too. I’ve made a lot of friends here.”

At one point, Bane noticed that a couple residents were running out of

food each month. So when she heard from another volunteer about the

services of the Second Harvest Food Pantry in Orange, she started driving

the two residents to pick up extra food each month.

“Now they have enough that they don’t run out,” she said with a smile

of satisfaction.

After two years, the people at the Costa Mesa Senior Center are like

family to Bane. If she’s not wrapping presents or silverware, selling

candy to raise money or dropping someone off at the doctor, she can be

found sitting at a card table with friends playing Kings Corners.

“It’s a nice place to be,” she said.