Family Promise of Beaufort County Shines the Spotlight on Gloria Bockelman

As a volunteer driven organization, we are shining the spotlight each month on one of our dedicated volunteers who are the heart of Family Promise. They work tirelessly and greatly deserve our thanks and recognition!

In June, we shine the Volunteer Spotlight on Gloria Bockelman, a long-time member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Beaufort since moving to the Lowcountry in 1990 from Toledo, Ohio with her husband, Tim.  Gloria’s congregation has been involved with Family Promise since 2008.  Since that time, St. John’s Lutheran has continued as one of 14 host congregations, all of which have provided safe overnight accommodations and meals to Family Promise guests.

When asked about her years of work with Family Promise, Gloria said she feels joy.  She started as an overnight and dinner host with her husband.  She is currently the Program Assistant and has the job of coordinating and scheduling volunteers during St. John’s host weeks.  What she loves most about working with Family Promise is meeting the families, especially the children.  During the host weeks she enjoys letting the children play on the piano after choir rehearsal.  “It usually brings a smile to their faces and their parent’s faces when they can experiment with a musical instrument,” says Gloria. 

Her love for music shines through as an accompanist for Lowcountry Chorale and the Voices Choral Group at Beaufort High School.   She has also played the keyboard for the Lowcountry Wind Symphony, which is another volunteer community band, who perform three concert series per year.  In addition to being a pianist for these organizations, Gloria has been the music director for musicals (Seussical the Musical, Matilda and Sister Act) presented by the Beaufort High School Theater department. 

Most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic Gloria said, “I work longer hours to ensure that our worship services are livestreamed on Facebook and our members are being cared for to the best of our ability.” She felt that her family was not affected as badly as others in the community.  Her husband was able to work from home and her adult children, Kierstin and Christopher, were off for a period of time and then able to return to work.  Yet, it was difficult to not see her in-laws during the lockdown, because they both live in a local senior assisted facility and were not allowed visitors.

When she’s not focused on activities with St. John’s or Family Promise, Gloria enjoys spending time with the family, reading and going on cruises.    One of her most memorable family trips was spending December in Cairns, Sydney, and on Fiji. She was able to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, feed kangaroos, hold a Koala bear, tour Sydney, and see a play in the Sydney Opera House.  Gloria stated, “These are Kodak moments that will stay with our family forever.”

We are so thankful for dedicated volunteers like Gloria who enables Family Promise to continue to meet the needs of homeless children and their families.