DAPHNE, Ala.—Selena Vaughn regards her volunteer work as a full-time job that keeps her from having a paying career. However, she finds great enjoyment in all the work she does in Daphne, from her work on the Lake Forest Property Owners Association board of directors to being secretary for the city’s Beautification Committee.

Vaughn served in advertising agencies during her career; last working as a production manager for Mobile’s Lewis Communications in 2000. She worked there for eight years before entering early retirement, she said.

One year later, she became a full-fledged volunteer in the city, and she prefers the work she is doing now.

“Now I get to work on things that actually interest me,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn was a Lake Forest Property Owners Association board member for one year. The Lake Forest neighborhood is the biggest subdivision in Daphne,.The position brought high visibility.

“It’s tough,” she said. “You can’t go to a grocery store without seeing a neighbor who wants to talk to you.”

Vaughn is active in the Beautification Committee, the Village Point Foundation and the Baldwin County Master Gardeners. She devotes most her time to these groups because of her interests in horticulture, history and public green space, she said.

“Ultimately these organizations have great influence on improving our quality of life here on the Eastern Shore,” she said.

She is secretary for the Beautification Committee and has been for three years. The group — which meets the first Friday of each month at 9 p.m. in City Hall — works with city leaders, Parks and Recreation and Public Works to maintain and improve Daphne.

As chairman of the Village Point Foundation, she spends much of her time working with the city on the renovation and landscape of Bayfront Park.

She has been a Baldwin County Master Gardeners member for five years. The group has several hundred members, and there is diversity in the professions of those involved.

“So many people are bringing stuff to the table,” she said about the groups. “That’s the thing about volunteer programs. The more diverse and bigger it is, the better it is.”

Just as Vaughn recognizes others’ contributions, Daphne residents have not let her own commitment go unnoticed.

“I wish we had 100 people like Selena,” said Council President August Palumbo. “She is one of the most civic-minded people I know in this city.”

As such, Selena does wish more people would step up and volunteer their efforts. There were times when the Beautification committee had very few people, she said, and now the group is thriving with involvement. But sometimes there aren’t enough people helping out in the city and it puts an extra workload on the few who are volunteering.

“Fewer volunteers mean a higher burnout rate,” Vaughn said. “You really want to focus on working. It’s not accomplished by one person.”

Vaughn and her husband, Jim, have lived in Daphne for 18 years. Jim supports his wife’s enthusiasm to volunteer, but Selena thinks he may have a side agenda.

“[My husband] is probably just thrilled that all of my energy isn’t focused on him,” she said while laughing.

She is also thrilled that her energy is going to volunteering in the community, because it is something she loves and she doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.

“I will be volunteering in Baldwin County and Daphne until they won’t have me,” she said.