Chuck Duggan is the owner of Fountain Car Wash in Macon and has been serving the community for many years.  “My volunteer work has a lot to do with church life,” explains Duggan.  “God wants our time, not just our tithes.”  For Duggan, volunteering is about serving God.  For to serve God, he says, is to serve and live for others.
 
“When Katrina hit in 2005, I called up a disaster organization and was sent to Hattiesburg,” says Duggan.  “I wanted to clean it up, and we just went down with chainsaws and worked.”  It was simple for Duggan: a crisis had swept the nation and families and communities were in need and displaced.  Volunteering, says Duggan, “comes from recognizing God has given me a gift.” 
 
Duggan is a father with two children who both attended First Presbyterian Day School (FPD) in Macon.  Duggan also attended the school and graduated with the second graduating class during the 1960s.  Duggan has been on the board of directors at FPD on and off since 1991.  He coached the girl’s tennis team during the 2007-2008 school year and says he thoroughly enjoys working with children.  He also got involved with college ministry and is leading a Bible Study this semester. “I will be leading young adult guys in the Pilgrim’s Progress Study Guide,” says Duggan.  “This program is particularly helpful for young men who are new believers.  It helps them to see their purpose in life.”  The course is 25 weeks, spread out over a year.
 
A dedication to community service has extended to mission trips for Duggan.  “I’ve been to Cuba and was able to work in that culture,” says Duggan, adding that his first love is cross- cultural ministry.  “I would go on mission trips every month if I could.”  Working outside his comfort zone taught Duggan a lot about life.  “It was all about trusting God,” he says.  In the early to mid-1980s, Duggan also served as county commissioner in Twiggs County, where he was living at the time.  That experience also taught him a lot of valuable lessons.  “The most important lesson I learned was that there are people who truly serve in public office that are true public servants,” says Duggan. As for community service and advice he would impart to community members?  Duggan says people in the community need to express an interest in what is taking place at the county and city levels.  “Community members should get to know their state representatives and become active within the community itself,” says Duggan.
 
In 1994 when the great floods came to Macon, Duggan says about the community, “Everybody came together and helped each other out.”  “People were providing meals for each other, Red Cross had so many people calling to give donations… a lot of good things happened.  This is a time when people should support the local churches, organizations, and businesses.”
 
Duggan’s community-minded approach encouraged him to take mission trips with his son, Michael, who is 22 years old and his daughter, Taylor, who is 18 years old.  “I sincerely hope that my children have been influenced in giving back to the community,” says Duggan.  “I’d like to think it has made them less selfish and made them appreciate living in the best country in the world.”  When Duggan took a trip to Rio Bravo, Mexico, he took his son Michael along with him.  “We went on youth retreats and I would be a chaperone,” says Duggan.  “I really loved being around the kids.”  Michael had just started learning how to speak Spanish and he was able to communicate with the children in the Mexican town.  “Taylor was also taken with what she saw and experienced,” says Duggan.  “The poverty was so incredible and yet they were amazed at how these kids could be so happy with so little.”  Currently, Michael is about to complete college and work as an agricultural research chemist and Taylor will be attending UGA this fall.
 
“I think people have so much to offer,” says Duggan.  “Whether it’s reading to children, being on a board, organizing an event… they can find their service gets multiplied.  When you donate your time, you have more time for things that are important.”