The Points of Light Foundation, a nonprofit volunteering think tank located in Washington, D.C., designated National Volunteer Week as a way to thank those who serve.

There are hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Santa Clara County, and thousands of skilled volunteers registered with the local Volunteer Center of Silicon Valley. But there are some volunteers who don't need a special week of recognition to inspire them to donate their time, skills and resources. And for this selflessness, those at the Willow Glen­based Diabetes Society of Santa Clara Valley are very grateful.

The board room of the society's office is bustling with activity every Tuesday. That's when a handful of volunteers spend the day helping the society with whatever projects require attention. Often these volunteers will find themselves stuffing envelopes or crunching numbers for budget reports or organizing files and documentation.

One of these volunteers is Dan Ohlson, who has lived on Cherry Avenue since 1994. A retiree, every Tuesday he drops by the society's Lincoln Avenue office to stuff envelopes. Aside from helping out with a nonprofit organization that serves the community, volunteering, he says, is a chance to get out of the house and socialize.

"I enjoy the fellowship," Ohlson said. "It's nice to come here and tell war stories and other lies."

His joke elicits giggles from the other volunteers.

One of them is registered nurse Val Isaacson, a Willow Glen resident of 35 years. She's been volunteering for the society since 1987. Previously she would visit various Longs Drugs stores one day a month offering free diabetes testing to the public. However, the last week of April this year she was hired as the society's director of client services and education.

Although she is now an employee, Issacson maintains she helped just as much as a volunteer as she might as a paid staff member.

"I give up my time because there are lots of people with diabetes who may not even realize it," Isaacson said. "They may need a lot of help and won't know where to get it. They don't know about working the medical system or what questions to ask their doctors."

The Diabetes Society is geared toward educating the public while also providing camping events for children and families, meal planning classes and nutrition instructional services.

Saratoga resident Ginger Lai, who moved to the area from Maryland 18 months ago, used to volunteer with her local chapter of the American Diabetes Association, which specializes in research as well as providing education about the disease.

Diabetes is the body's inability to produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to turn sugar and starches into energy. The direct cause of diabetes is unknown, but it has been linked to genetics and lack of exercise, in addition to other factors.

Lai, who doesn't have diabetes but has family members who do, is the society's volunteer coordinator.

"Any little thing I do is for a worthy cause if it helps find a cure," Lai said. "And we're volunteering for a fabulous organization."

Carol Matsuo, a 30-year resident of San Jose's Evergreen neighborhood, has been volunteering her Tuesdays for four years. She sees volunteering as a way to pick up new skills and knowledge.

"What I learn I can share with others," Matsuo said. "I feel a great sense of personal satisfaction, and the time I spend here is very much worth it."

Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer Spreading the Word: Val Issacson (left), a registered nurse and volunteer at the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara Valley since 1987, was recently asked to become the director of client services and education, a full-time staff position.

For example, someone with computer skills may be able to help upgrade the society's network or hardware. The society is always looking for volunteers skilled in finance, project management and event planning.

For the unemployed, volunteering is a way of keeping skills sharp until job prospects turn up. That's been the case with Willow Glen resident Ellen Santomauro.

The benefits and compensation analyst for Agilent Technologies was laid off with about 8,000 other employees in January 2002. To keep her office skills sharp, Santomauro accepted the society's offer to help with bookkeeping and also to help organize the society's annual golf tournament.

"Because I've been out of work, I wanted to show prospective employers that I was 'adding value' to my skills while also giving back to the community," Santomauro said, "instead of waiting at home for jobs to appear."

Santomauro is no stranger to volunteering. In high school she would spend her summers teaching swim classes to children with disabilities. She's an active member of the PTA at Willow Glen Elementary School and tries to get her two sons involved with volunteering activities, although the results have been mixed.

"Last year I roped them into helping with Ken Yeager's anti-litter campaign by cleaning up along Lincoln Avenue," she said. "They were so embarrassed. They said, 'Mom! What if somebody sees us?' But soon they really got into it and had fun with it."

Apparently thousands of other Santa Clara County residents find volunteering fun as well as productive.

The Volunteer Center of Silicon Valley maintains a database of about 3,000 skilled volunteers whom the center refers to nonprofit organizations. Center spokesperson Tim Quigley said that volunteerism has grown enormously since President George Bush's Nov. 9, 2001 speech, in which he implored Americans to dedicate time and resources to community service in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But the volunteers at the Diabetes Society were helping out well before Sept. 11. With the claim that one-third of the American population is unaware it has diabetes, the society relies heavily on volunteers to share information about the disease.

For information about the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara County, located at 165 Lincoln Ave. in the Garden Theater Plaza, #300, call 408.287.3785 or visit www.diabetesscv.org.

For more information about the Volunteer Center of Silicon Valley, 1922 The Alameda, #211, call 408.547.1126.