Christy Alten / The Digital Butterfly Dale and Alice Ann Stange stand in front of two volunteer awards they received. The Stanges have volunteered a lot of their time in retirement to causes such as Alpha Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Entering their retirement years, the Stanges began volunteering with a heart for upholding the sanctity of life.

When Dale and Alice Ann Stange retired in 2002, they moved from Rapid City, S.D., to Sioux Falls. Dale had worked more than 17 years for Merillat Industries and Alice Ann had been their church secretary for 14 years. The Stanges chose to retire in Sioux Falls to be closer to their daughter, Gretchen, and her family.

The Stanges immediately got involved in a church and started volunteering in their church community. Dale took a part-time job, but soon realized that God had something else in store for their lives.

The couple began volunteering at a local hospital where Dale was an escort, taking patients and families around the campus, and Alice Ann was able to rock babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. This was an ideal fit for Dale and Alice Ann, since they both had a love for children.

However, in January 2005, the Stanges felt God working in their hearts to do something that glorified Him with their time. It was a Sanctity of Human Life Sunday message that caught their attention, especially the part stressing that volunteers were needed.

The Stanges went home that Sunday praying and thinking about the message, the following week they were interviewed and became volunteers at Alpha Center, a crisis pregnancy center in Sioux Falls.

“We had a desire to serve God in some way,” Alice Ann said. “It was laid on our hearts to serve at the Alpha Center.”

“What is more innocent than a kid?” asked Dale, who has spent the past few years using his time to promote the value of unborn children.

The Stanges, who will celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary in September, love spending time together and enjoy serving God with their time.

“I wanted to do something with (Dale) -- something that we could do together that we both enjoy doing,” Alice Ann said.

As Alpha Center’s needs increased, the Stanges chose to stop volunteering at the hospital and focus their attention on Alpha Center. They are scheduled to volunteer once a week at Alpha Center, but if a need arises and they are free, they often will jump in and help out.

Dale and Alice Ann work behind the scenes at Alpha Center, where their primary role involves donations. They stock the Earn While You Learn closet, prepare mailings and work special events or exhibits, where they often answer questions at a booth.

Their work at Alpha Center took personal significance in March 2006, when a family friend from Rapid City delivered a baby just 22 weeks into her pregnancy. This little miracle, named Ella England, weighed only 15 ounces at birth. The Stanges became a support system for the England family, since Ella was born in Sioux Falls and remained hospitalized for several months.

The Stanges said that experience increased their passion to support unborn life and was part of the reason they chose to work with the Vote Yes for Life campaign in South Dakota.

“It is a blessing to be a part of a Christian environment,” Alice Ann said.

Family is very important to the Stanges. The move to Sioux Falls has allowed them to be an active part in the lives of their granddaughters. However, their time spent volunteering has expanded their family; it now includes their friends at Alpha Center.

Living a life in service to God is something the Stanges have strived to do in their lives. In Alice Ann’s kitchen, on a cupboard door, is a saying that illustrates their willingness to serve: “Blessed is she whose daily tasks are a labor of love; for her willing hands and happy heart translate duty into privilege; and her labor becomes a service to God.”

The Stanges have a love for genealogy and Alice Ann enjoys creating scrapbooks, but they also have found ways to use their hobbies to serve God. With Dale’s input, Alice Ann has helped churches keep an archive of pictures and special events. In 2009, the Stanges spent several hours organizing and archiving scrapbooks to honor Alpha Center’s 25th anniversary.

The Stanges also helped with similar projects at their church in Rapid City and at Living Word Free Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. Dale and Alice Ann are active in their church, Abiding Savior Free Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, and recently have volunteered to serve as church historians, archiving important events for the congregation.

The Stanges said they are blessed to be able to volunteer their time in their retirement, and they know that many people would benefit from serving God and others as volunteers.

“There are so many places a person could volunteer,” Dale said.

Alice Ann added, “You either have a desire to volunteer or you don’t. If God speaks to you, then you feel led.”

Go to www.alphacenter.org for more information about Alpha Center. If you are interested in finding a volunteer opportunity, many churches have contacts or are aware of places that have needs.