Lives in Charlotte, NC
Originally grew up in Europe, Panama, and the United States
Retired, works as a volunteer coordinator with the Charlotte International Airport USO and as an early voting and Election Day judge
A self-described “army brat”, Nicky Engel considered the entire world her hometown — now, she dedicates her time to her current hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina through her work as a volunteer coordinator with the Charlotte International Airport USO and as a voting poll worker.
What drew you to this kind of work? What do you enjoy most about your work or volunteer service?
I love the people — both at the USO and in my [voting site work]. At the USO, I interact with all our guests — the service members [as well as] their families, and the same thing is true at my polling location — I interact with the people who work at the polling place as well as the voters coming through. I love it — I’m a teacher by training and I just love interacting with people.
Can you share a moment or experience that made you especially proud?
It’s always when a volunteer comes up to me and says, ‘We couldn’t do this without you,’ or when a guest at the USO says, ‘Thank you so much for being here.’
With the voters that are coming through — it’s when they are so excited [to vote] and say, ‘Thank you so much, this is such an important thing.’ In North Carolina, during early voting you can register and vote on the same day — and it’s fabulous when an 18-year-old registers and votes for the first time. We’ve also had new American citizens who have come in to vote — we had someone last week who had just taken his oath and came in to vote — it was that important to them that they do that. It was their first chance to vote as an American and I was like, ‘This is so cool.’ Those are really special moments.
What and/or who has influenced or inspired the way you serve others?
It’s how appreciative people are for us, the volunteers at the USO, or us as the poll workers here — it keeps me coming back. I never get tired of it.
[Additionally] My mom and dad — [they instilled that volunteering is] a work ethic. You get this dedication to giving back and it grows on you — you commit to something and then you commit to something. You might try something that’s not a fit for you, and that’s fine. But when you find that fit — something like, ‘I really like working with the soldiers’ or ‘I really like working with voters’ —then it’s not work anymore. Not that volunteering is work, but it is a time commitment. They instilled that [philiosophy] in me — to dedicate yourself to something other than yourself.
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about the work you do or the people you serve?
When it comes to the USO, it’s not easy being a soldier, sailor, Marine — traveling can be difficult, and a lot of times it’s a spouse traveling on their own with a couple of kids and they need time to rest up before they get on the next flight. [I’d also want people to understand] how important that space is to service members traveling. I wish the outside world knew that it’s not a frivolous thing, it’s truly meaningful.
On the voting side of my world — I wish people understood how important it is for you to come out and vote. It does matter and we’re here for you. Come out, be part of this — because you have to live by whatever happens. [I want people to know that] we’re here for you and we’ll answer any question we can and we’ll help you the best way we can. We want people to be part of the process.
If you could give one message of encouragement to your community, what would it be?
Don’t hesitate to come out and volunteer for anything — it doesn’t have to be USO or voting. There are so many opportunities for you — what is it that you enjoy? Try something —if you try something and it’s not for you, try something else until you find what you’re looking for, there are so many organizations that need volunteers. Nothing’s too big, nothing’s too small, and every organization has different needs, so find one that fits what you want to do. Don’t give up — you might be able to only do a day a month, you may only have a couple of hours in your month, [but] most volunteer organizations are grateful for any little bit of time that they can get from anybody. And the thing is, you feel so good when you’re done [volunteering]. Work a soup kitchen — even if you do it once a quarter, it’s amazing how good that makes you feel. And it can help you out, too — you may not be looking for a job, but you strike up a conversation with another volunteer and one thing can lead to another can lead to another. You’re just there, enjoying interaction with people you’re not with all the time.
If you were a piece of furniture, what would you be — and why?
I think I would be a dining room table, because I love talking to people — I love laughing and [having] all of the good times that people have around a dining room table.
Do you have any “core furniture memories”? (For example, a special chair only your dad sat in, or those famous plastic-covered couches!)
A schrank — it’s a wall unit very common to Germany, where I grew up for a time. My mother was European, and when we lived in Germany in the 1960s, my mother bought one that was 10 feet long — it took up a whole wall. I inherited it from my mother and it went everywhere with us and it moved so many times that we no longer have it, because unfortunately it couldn’t survive another move. But [when we had it], we would specifically buy or rent a place with a wall big enough for it to go on.
The beauty of [the schrank] is there’s usually a section with a glass curio where you can keep mementos or figurines, so there were always memories there that I kept from my parents.
In your opinion — what’s the best way to build a furniture fort?
I love this question because I lived before you could buy [fort] stuff in stores. My sister and I would make great forts with furniture — you move the couch around, you move the chairs around, the cushions are key because you have to pile them up higher to make the walls a bit higher. You have to have blankets, towels, anything that you can drape. Our whole living room would be this gigantic fort where you could go get your dolls and put them in there. And if you could move things around you could pull the cushions off and create an entirely new world.
