By John Davis

Oxford Park Commission

In between visiting almost every single state park in Mississippi, Marlee Carpenter has been serving residents of Lafayette County through Leisure Lifestyles of Oxford. Carpenter is set to begin a new chapter of her career working for the city. She was recently hired as a recruiter for the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program or RSVP. Carpenter graduated from The University of Mississippi in 2016 with a degree in parks and recreation. Ole Miss was where the native of Burnsville started to gain an appreciation for Oxford.

“I did a lot of community work with the university through AmeriCorps and was involved there for a year and a half when I was stationed with More Than a Meal and Bramlett Elementary,” Carpenter said. “It was after all that I got involved with the park commission. I think the university helped push me into the community. I knew when I was in high school that I wanted to work with youth. My background was in summer camps, so I went for a huge transition working with camps to seniors and retirees. I knew I still wanted to work with non-profit organizations that offer public services.”

For the past two and a half years, Carpenter worked as the assistant programmer for LLO. She felt that prepared her for her new position, and allowed her to pursue her current position with RSVP. Carpenter was eager for a bigger leadership role with the community because she fell in love with the seniors and retired members of the community.

“LLO really helped give me that training and that perfect transition so that I could be more involved with RSVP and help accommodate their needs, and the needs of the community for more volunteer opportunities,” Carpenter said adding she wanted to enhance the RSVP pledge of working for the greatest good to improve the county, community, country and each other. “I want to take that message and run with it and continue to introduce it into the world of retirees. They know (RSVP) is out here, but they don’t always know what they can do to help. I want to be more creative and find more stations. They have 42 right now, but I want to dig deep and see what I can produce, something new and fresh for them.”

When Carpenter isn’t at work, she likes to go outdoors. She has been known to stop and smell the flowers, and even plant them. As a state park ambassador, Carpenter has extensive knowledge about which ones are best and what amenities they offer.

“The university were seeking ambassadors and I thought it was perfect for me,” said Carpenter, who has visited 27 parks in the state. “I would write blogs about them, and I still try to do it in my free time, giving reviews.”

For more information on RSVP, contact Carpenter at rsvprep@oxfordms.net or 662-232-2773.