Imagine an 81-year-old, German-born, Spanish-speaking registered nurse, who married a Polish electrical engineer in Bolivia before coming to the United States in 1951, and who now volunteers as an interpreter at a DHS office in Dallas, and you've imagined Annelies Kahan.

Kahan works in the Blair Road office in Dallas one afternoon a week, serving as an interpreter for Spanish speaking clients applying for Medicaid or the Lone Star Card. She's been volunteering with DHS for more than 10 years and was one of the first volunteers in the region.

"Most of the time I help the caseworkers," she said. "For instance, if a woman wants to apply for Medicaid for her children or for the Lone Star Card, and I will sit with the caseworker." She said that in many instances in which benefits are denied, the cause is simply a misunderstanding between the caseworker and the client.

Volunteering is a way of life for Kahan. "I work with AIDS interfaith network and the Texas Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit," she said. "I'm also a benefits counselor for the Dallas County Agency on Aging, and I used to be an AIDS instructor for the American Red Cross. I'm also a disaster nurse for the American Red Cross, and I belong to the American Red Cross language cadre. I also work two days a week as a sanitary care worker with the Armed Forces Emergency Services"

Kahan's background is as varied as her volunteer work. She was born in Germany 81 years ago and moved to Bolivia with her businessman father when she was a teenager. She lived in Bolivia for 13 years – "Long enough to study nursing, find a husband and have two children" – before moving to the United States with her husband, a Polish electrical engineer.

Kahan volunteers so much of her time because, as she said, "I see a need and very few people are willing or able to do it." So she steps up and fills the need.

In 1997 she was a finalist for the Golden Rule Award from the J. C. Penney and won $500 for her two sponsors, the Red Cross and DHS. On Sept. 11, 2002 she was one of six local heroes honored in a ceremony in Thanksgiving Square in Dallas.

Her reward is the same one that motivates many people who give of themselves to help others. "It makes me feel good that I am able to help somebody," she said.  It also helps her fulfill a vow. "After my husband died I made my self a promise that I would make my life as interesting as I can and I've been doing that," she said. "I haven't had a dull moment in my life."