Angela Boyce Mathis, originally from Memphis, Tennessee, has always been someone who wants to help, and with that mission, she has clocked in 5,000 hours over 40 years of volunteer work.
Boyce Mathis received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award from the Biden Administration in November 2024.
Growing up, Boyce Mathis’ late mother, Bonnie, was always helping other people.
“I would have to credit my late mother with the work that I started to do. We grew up with a very humble background, a very humble background. But no matter how little we seem to have, my mother seemed to always squeeze a little bit out for somebody else,” Boyce Mathis said in a recent phone interview.
She recalled that when she was a child, she didn’t know when to give since she was so young.
However, Boyce Mathis’ mother gave her advice that stuck with her for a lifetime and changed her mindset.
“She said to me, and I remembered it my entire life. And that is that God has given us two hands for a very special reason. One, to help yourself and one mandatorily has to help others. That you don’t need everything, you have to be willing to share with others,” Boyce Mathis said.
After she had a lengthy stay in a hospital, she realized that she wanted to go back to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and volunteer her time.
Once she got her feet wet with St. Jude’s, she continued her volunteer journey with other organizations like Ronald McDonald House and American Royal Beauties.
When Boyce Mathis received her award, she thought to herself, “what’s next?” because that was the pinnacle, in her words.
“Because I just felt like for me, that was just a huge deal in my life. Not that I wanted anyone else because for me, I don’t really look for, you know, momentary recognition for things. It’s always about long-term influence that will focus on a positive change,” Boyce Mathis said.
She said that her volunteerism is how she can make the world a better place than it was before.
After she moved to Santa Clarita seven years ago, she knew she wanted to continue to help people.
And with that mission, she was able to raise money to open her own room at the Ronald McDonald House to help critically ill children and start her own business “Bonnie’s Backpacks” to help domestic violence victims.
