JACKSONVILLE, Fla — When was the last time you helped someone? After reading this, Tocca Chester hopes you make your answer "right now!"
Chester is a recipient of First Coast News' 12 Who Care Community Service Awards. Every day Chester volunteers then goes to work then goes back to volunteering. She wouldn't want to live her life any other way.
Chester has volunteering pins from the past four presidents, more than 5,000 service hours under her belt from the last eight years, and she has a big personality.
"I volunteer every day!" she said.
When First Coast News asked what drivers her, she said she just has to help.
"It has to be done!" Chester said. "People need help."
Chester's full name is Torquemada, which is the name of a grand inquisitor of Spain during the Spanish Inquisition.
For more than a decade, Chester has volunteered at Volunteers in Medicine. She works at the Clara White Mission. Her love for volunteering started when she was a kid and her father brought her along to volunteer at the Special Olympics. She's now the woman you go to for lifesaving medical care if you work and don't have insurance.
"If you need an MRI, a cat scan, an ultrasound then they'll send you to me," Chester said.
This fall she starts school to become a homicide detective, but don't worry, she'll still make time for volunteering.
"Helping people is what I was born to do," Chester said. "I like to work hard and help everybody, as many people as I can. I don't know what I'm here for, but I figured if I'm here, and I help people really well, then apparently that must be what I'm here for, to help as many people as I can before I leave here."
Congratulations on being a recipient of 12 Who Care!
