A volunteer's 25-year-long labor of love

Wantagh resident says bingo is more than fun and games

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If it’s a Wednesday afternoon or a Thursday night, Rita Hofer can be found at her temple. That’s when weekly Bingo games take place, which Hofer said are actually more than just fun and games.

“Without it, we wouldn’t be here,” she said, noting that the money Bingo brings in each year helps keep Temple B’Nai Torah in Wantagh open. “My goal is to keep this temple open.”

April is National Volunteer Month and Hofer, who has lived in North Wantagh for close to a half century, is the ultimate volunteer. She runs the year-round weekly Bingo games, as well as the Triple Bingo Sundays, held four times a year. Hofer does much work out of the public’s eye, including counting the money, filing the Bingo licenses and all financial reporting to the state and county. “There’s a lot of paperwork behind the scenes,” she said.

Hofer must also coordinate the schedules of the other volunteers. She has about 70 people to draw from, and about 30 work each Bingo session. An average Wednesday typically draws 130 to 150 participants, while some Thursday-night sessions have drawn more than 250 players. 

“It becomes your little family,” she said. “A big family, actually.”

She said the job requires good math skills, but also the right personality. “You have to love what you’re doing, enjoy working with people, all types of people,” she said.

Hofer grew up in Rosedale and moved to Wantagh 47 years ago with her late husband, Alan. They raised two daughters, who attended nursery school at the Temple and graduated from MacArthur High School. Her grandson, Andrew Obergh, is in college and her granddaughter, Rachel, is a senior at Wantagh High School.

Her husband started volunteering with the Bingo program as a caller, and Hofer was not far behind. She began by helping out in the kitchen, and has been the coordinator of the program for the past 25 years.

Over the years, she has played the organ, and was president of the Sisterhood. She then became the temple president in 1995, and, despite losing her husband that year, continued on to complete her two-year term. 

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