For nearly a quarter century, John Schumacher has been the heart and soul of Recorded Recreational Reading for the Blind. So no one was surprised when nearly all 34 RRRB volunteers responded yes to board president Sarah Shew’s invitation to a surprise party for his 90th birthday on Valentine’s Day. Their gift to him that day was to pledge a collective total of $15,000 to RRRB if their dollars would be matched by donations from non-volunteers. Schumacher was “flabbergasted” by his fellow volunteers’ generosity.

Recorded Recreational Reading for the Blind came into being in 1971 as a 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to delivering local news, doing interviews with interesting people and conveying information on sports, finances, food, dining, travel, arts and entertainment and health and wellness to the blind and visually impaired. RRRB’s 34 volunteers use three recording booths and then deliver their Valley Talking News via Internet podcasts at readingfortheblind.com, online radio station KRUV Radio Sun and cartridges mailed weekly to the homes of blind and visually impaired subscribers.

“The quickest way to experience what we do,” said Shew, “is to go to www.readingfortheblind.com and click on the Listen tab. People who have never heard of us are amazed at how professionally we do all that we do.”

Through all its 53 years of service to the blind and visually impaired, Recorded Recreational Reading for the Blind has survived strictly on donations: from the public, from civic organizations and to a large extent from the volunteers themselves. For more than half a century these donations have been the sole source of funds allowing RRRB to help the blind. In recent years, half these donations have come from the people who know the organization more intimately than anyone else — the volunteers themselves.

This year Schumacher’s 30 hours per week of volunteering inspired his fellow volunteers to pledge $15,000 in his honor. They asked only that their donations be matched by donations from non-volunteers. Because of its 501(c)(3) status, all donations are tax deductible.

A 1956 graduate of Notre Dame, Schumacher spent his early years working for his father’s construction company in Mishawaka, Indiana. After the company closed down, Schumacher moved near Indianapolis to help supervise the construction of a themed amusement park, and then he continued on operating the park until it closed in 1996, after which he retired to Sun City.

Once here, his youthful dream of working in radio came back to him. He had done such work for fun during his twenties, and in fact became an expert in old time radio programs. After learning of Schumacher’s interest in radio during a course he was taking in autobiography in 1999, the instructor suggested he volunteer at RRRB.

The night before Schumacher crossed RRRB’s threshold for the first time, the only person there who knew how to operate the tape duplicator had died. A few minutes after Schumacher walked through the door to offer his services, the interviewer asked if he knew how to operate a tape duplicator. He did. And so began Schumacher’s quarter-century of life as the heart and soul of RRRB.

During his thousands of hours of service, Schumacher has done “every job in the joint”: announcing, audio engineering, office work, digital repairs, hardware maintenance. These days his hours are mostly filled with audio engineering, training volunteers and recording his own program in old time radio. His example has lured numerous radio and recording professionals from as far away as England and New York as well as folks outside the profession — realtors, teachers, salesmen, secretaries — who just want to help out.

“Although we can always use more volunteers,” Shew said, “mostly what we need are monetary donations to keep us alive and delivering our services to the blind. Our volunteers will be matching these donations.”

To match volunteer donations or to volunteer to work in the studio, visit RRRB in person or send checks to 9447 99th Ave., Peoria, AZ 85345. It would be best to call before coming: 623 933-0985.

“We love showing prospective volunteers and donors what we do,” said Shew. “To see what we do go toreadingfortheblind.com and click on the Listen tab. Our programs even bring in lots of listeners without visual impairments.”