Tim Sharp works in Boca Raton teaching students in the Chamber of Commerce’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy, one of his several volunteer missions. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Hannah Spence
Many people aspire to spend their golden years at the beach or playing golf, but 66-year-old retiree Tim Sharp spends most of his time volunteering.
“It’s a great feeling to give back to the community,” said Sharp, who donates his time to causes such as recreational soccer, the Delray Beach Public Library, the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program, St. Jude Children’s Hospital and the Delray Beach Historical Society.
Volunteering “gives people a purpose on ‘Why am I here, what am I doing?’” he said. “A lot of people lose that, especially when they retire, and it’s hard to get that back.”
Sharp’s journey in volunteer work started in 2001 when he coached his daughter with SABR, a Boca Raton soccer program. He eventually joined the board, on which he served for about four years.
During this time, a friend invited him to a meeting at the Rotary Club of Boca Raton Sunrise. That led Sharp to decades of service with that club, including two stints as president.
From there, volunteering became a way of life for Sharp, particularly after he retired as a hydrogeologist and project manager at the engineering firm CH2M Hill in 2014.
His wife, Katherine Karageorges-Sharp, was diagnosed with oral cancer about a year later. She suffered from the disease on and off for about six years before dying in 2020.
After losing his wife, Sharp eventually settled in Delray Beach. He continued to support organizations such as the Rotary Club of Boca Raton Sunrise and SABR TOPSoccer, which caters to special-needs children and adults. Sharp is the club’s Boca sponsorship coordinator and is taking some responsibilities off administrator Suzi Vogelgesang’s plate.
He began using the online service VolunteerMatch to find opportunities in Delray Beach. He was grateful to find the first match with the Delray library. But the second opportunity, American Cancer Association’s Road to Recovery program, is especially dear to him.
“This volunteer opportunity proved to be very close to my heart as I remember all of the countless trips to and from appointments for my late wife,” said Sharp, who through the program provides rides for cancer patients to and from their health appointments.
Through participating in Road to Recovery, Sharp has gotten to know some cancer patients on a personal level, such as Robert Kohl, who has colon cancer. Sharp has driven him on several occasions.
“I’ve had different drivers at different times, but Tim was the most consistent out of all of them,” said Kohl, who signed up for Road to Recovery because he does not have a car. Before meeting Sharp, he’d had the disappointing experience of having a driver cancel. Sharp came in at the right time. “Tim is very nice, he’s very personable,” said Kohl.
More recent, Sharp started volunteering for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, a program the Boca Chamber runs, which teaches teenagers how to start a business.
“They have some very interesting ideas,” Sharp said of the would-be business owners. “The whole point in doing this is to get them to be more confident in themselves, to know that they can do something like this, whether they actually go and start a business or not. They’ve learned a skill that they may not have had before and probably won’t get from high school.”
That’s not his only contribution to future leaders; Sharp is setting up an annual scholarship through the George Snow Scholarship Fund for students from both the Best Foot Forward program and the Milagro Teen Center in Delray Beach.
Through all his opportunities, Sharp has followed a certain philosophy when it comes to volunteering.
“You have to treat it like a profession,” he said, “meaning you must be professional. I’ve found that a lot of volunteers will raise their hand but then don’t show up. They have an excuse. You’ve got to put your heart into it.”
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