Kathy Hilde used to go to the Greater Maple Valley Community Center when her children were small to enjoy Toddler Time.

Now her kids are teenagers who volunteer through the community center and giving time has been extremely rewarding for her 18-year-old son Michael.

“It’s been really wonderful for Michael,” Hilde said. “He started volunteering at 16. He has Downs Syndrome. We thought this would be a wonderful way for him to give back to the community. This has just been a huge blessing. Just being able to watch my son grow, learn new skills, become more confident, become more independent has been so wonderful for our family.”

Hilde told her story to a packed room at the community center Thursday morning at the annual benefit breakfast fundraiser.

Her experience is one of the many shared by community members who spoke to the significance of the community center to help persuade those in attendance to support it financially through one-time donations or monthly pledges.

In 2010, explained Executive director Lynn Roberts, 227 volunteers gave more than 9,000 hours of their time to support programs ranging from Toddler Time to lunch for senior citizens to after school activities at The Den youth center.

While 2010 had its ups and downs as the community center started to feel the full force of the economy — it lost $20,000 in King County funding for a senior program — new revenue sources arose in the form of new grants that will pay for specific things.

A $25,000 grant from the Rakes Foundation will help support youth programs while a $15,000 grant from United Way will cover work with residents at Riverbend Trailer Park.

“Those funds don’t pay the bills,” Roberts said. “I also tell you (about the grants) to inform you of the quality of the staff and services that happen at the community center. It is very important for all of us to understand that our welfare resides in the welfare of all of our citizens. The strength of coming together as a community cannot be underestimated.”

Sean Stewart, a former member of the community center’s board of directors, explained that it is an independent non-profit, and unlike other organizations is not owned and operated by the city, though it does receive financial support from the city of Maple Valley as well as the county.

“That’s one leg of their funding,” Stewart said. “The second leg is grants. The third leg is the citizens and the businesses of greater Maple Valley. The need has never been so great. The need for services has gone up and funding has gone down. The money you donate has a direct impact on this community.”

King County Councilman Reagan Dunn said, “This community center is particularly important. We have precious few places where the community can gather. Starbucks is one. The library and the community center are the others.”

Ron Upshaw, of the Ron and Don Show on KIRO FM, emceed the event. He is also a resident of Maple Valley.

He encouraged the community center staff to offer ways for residents to help that don’t require tons of time.

“We can’t expect people in our community to come by and volunteer for eight hours,” Upshaw said. “People want to be involved. They want to help. They want to do something. They just want you to make it accessible and small enough for them to do. Making it bite size, making it a micro economy in a sense.”

The key to that, Upshaw noted, is finding things that people are passionate about.

Programs such as Meals on Wheels or Toddler Time that offer opportunities for someone like Hilde’s son to volunteer or even a small donation should do the trick.

“That way they’re happy, you’re happy,” Upshaw said.