Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shar And Phil Roos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Shar and Phil, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
Both my husband, Phil, and I came from meager beginnings. We were both raised by single moms who often had to go without to provide for us. We both started working at a young age, Phil at 12 and me, Shar, at 15, to help our mom’s. We knew what it was like to struggle and know how difficult that could be on kids and teens. We worked hard our entire lives to create a better life for ourselves and our families. When we became successful adults we felt the need to help those less fortunate. Phil joined the Navy at 17 years old and learned very quickly about the importance of humanitarian efforts around the world. When I was in my 20’s, I started to do very well financially and remembered what it was like to struggle and wanted to help others. We both have continued to give back to our communities and help those less fortunate throughout our adult and retired lives.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
We are Arizonans who are the founders of a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization called A Year to Volunteer (Y2V). Y2V is an RV-centric volunteer organization that performs renovation/restoration/renewal projects all over the country, mostly at state parks and other nonprofits (museums, rescues, therapy centers, etc). Y2V’s goal is to perform a project in each state and volunteer for a minimum of 365 volunteer days. As of December 2024, we’ve completed 41 projects in 27 states over 482 volunteer days with approximately 500 volunteers who have given just over 52,000 volunteer hours.
Phil went to high school in Prescott AZ before enlisting in the Navy in 1982, He spent 36 years and retired as a Captain in 2018 with his last tour as the Commanding Officer of the Naval ROTC program at ASU. Shar was born in California and had a career in finance and insurance and has also written four books under her maiden name Sharmen Lane and retired in 2020.
In 2018 at home in Scottsdale, after retiring from the Navy, Phil came up with an idea to sail around the world in a catamaran. Not a water girl, Shar gave an instantaneous no, but did tell him that she’d consider traveling in an RV. Several months later, after a rough day at work, Shar came home and following a heartfelt conversation floating in our pool, we came up with the idea to sell the home and travel around in the country by RV. To keep a sense of fulfillment in our lives though, we decided then to set a goal to visit and volunteer in each state.
The following year, while undergoing a solar power installation in our RV, an acquaintance heard about our plans and suggested that we invite other RVers to join us on projects we find. So, we found a state park in Florida that had been devastated by Hurricane Michael in 2018 and after leaving Arizona in January 2020, Florida Caverns State Park became our first project with 39 “RVolunteers” as we like to call them. In three short weeks, we renovated and restored their campground and fulfilled other projects around the park. Y2V was officially born.
We’ve been blessed with great success on our 73,000 mile trip around the country so far with periodic trips back home for the winters. We’re the recipients of the 2022 President’s Award for Volunteerism by the National Association of State Park Directors (America’s State Parks), the 2020 Eagle Award for Volunteer Excellence by Alabama State Parks, the 2021 Partnership Award by Indiana State Parks, and the 2022 Iowa Governor’s Volunteer Award for Outstanding Commitment and Service. We were also recognized by the State of Louisiana with an “A Year to Volunteer Day” proclamation by the Lt. Governor in July 2022.
We are a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization with a mission to organize volunteers to conduct small to large scale renovation, restoration, and renewal projects all over the country, mostly at state parks and other community benefiting nonprofits such as museums, educational centers, therapy centers, and animal rescues to name a few. Our mission is to fulfill a volunteer project in all 50 states for a minimum of 365 volunteering days, whichever comes last. Essentially, we do extreme makeovers of those organizations in our nation that benefit us all.
We notionally organize projects that are two-weeks in length for approximately 15 RVs or 25-30 people. We generally provide approximately 1350 manhours during that time with volunteers who range from 3 to 83 years of age with most in their 50s and 60s. We don’t recruit to skill unless there is a specific project in mind and we generally have enough skill to perform approximately 20 sub projects for that organization; everything from cleaning and organization to construction.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Perseverance, willingness to learn and hard work. Anything worth having is worth waiting (and working) for and sometimes it doesn’t happen quickly. Things don’t always happen when or how we want them to. If you truly want something you must continue your efforts through the difficult times. Sometimes getting what you want is just a matter of sticking with it until you figure it out.
We live in an ever changing world today and adapting to that change is crucial. If you want to accomplish anything in life you must be willing to learn new things and new ways of doing things. If you don’t know how to do something, watch a YouTube video or go online, do research, study and learn. We live in the information age and answers and solutions are available at our fingertips. If you have the willingness to learn and adapt, you can do anything.
We’ve found that there is no substitute for hard work. Most of our success was because of the hard work we had to put in to get the results we wanted. This is what builds character and strength. It’s seems that when we put in the effort to learn, grow and accomplish a goal we come out better on the other side.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We’re always looking for places to work with that need a helping hand. We primarily help parks or nonprofits like museums, animals rescues/sanctuaries, equine therapy centers, etc., that don’t have the time, money or people to improve their facilities or grounds. We love to work with places that give back to and help the communities they’re in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ayeartovolunteer.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ayeartovolunteer
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ayeartovolunteer
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ayeartovolunteer
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
