On her 50th birthday, Joan Murphy looked to her bucket list for ideas about how she should properly celebrate.
Scanning the crinkled list now discolored with age, she skipped over "travel the country" and "go on a cruise." Those would come later, she said.
First, Mrs. Murphy wanted to cross a specific item off the list - one that would benefit others.
"I knew if I didn't do something then, I would never get to it," the South Abington Twp. resident said. "It would just continue to sit on the list."
Inspired by her mother's grace, Mrs. Murphy set out on a journey to "make the world a better place" by volunteering at local nonprofits once a month.
And she brought some friends with her - 22 of them, to be exact.
Starting in January, the group of friends dubbed the "23 V's" have volunteered at the St. Francis of Assisi Soup Kitchen and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, among many others.
Most recently, on Oct. 14, the "V's" spent six hours at Marley's Mission in Lake Ariel, where they groomed horses, cleaned stables and organized therapy rooms.
Marley's Mission is a nonprofit organization that provides equine-based therapy to children and their families who have experienced trauma.
"They showed up ready to go and cleaned everything," said Tara Iona, the volunteer coordinator at Marley's Mission. "Everyone who works here is usually strapped for time, so a group like this is invaluable."
Now, nearly 11 months into her journey, Mrs. Murphy said she isn't ready to reflect on the group's accomplishments.
Instead, she is focused on the future and reaching out to other nonprofit organizations the "V's" haven't helped yet.
"We don't do this for the publicity; we do it because we thoroughly enjoy helping others out," Mrs. Murphy said. "But we know there is a lot of work left to do, and a lot of organizations we haven't helped."
Mrs. Murphy emphasizes that she has a special group of friends who are "committed" to helping others - even if they didn't know what they were getting into when she first asked for their help.
"I asked them all to meet me at the Riverfront Sports Complex, where they could help me fulfill one of my bucket list wishes," Mrs. Murphy said. "They thought it was going to be a trip somewhere."
It turns out they were just as excited for this adventure.
"I've been friends with Joanie since I was 5, so before she told us I was just thinking, 'Here we go again,'â" said Lisa Gaynord, 51, a member of the "V's." "It could have been anything. But we are glad she choose this - it has been a blast."
Another one of Mrs. Murphy's longtime friends, Lori Flynn, 51, of Jefferson Twp. said she was thrilled when she heard the plan because it's an idea she was "thinking about doing anyway."
"Joanie is a go-getter ... she has made it easy for us," Ms. Flynn said. "This is a special group of people. We all love giving back to the community."
Originally, Mrs. Murphy said she planned on volunteering for a year.
But as she looks at her bucket list, she's hesitant to put a line through "make the world a better place" - six words that unified a group of 23 and brightened the world of others.
"We're not finished," Mrs. Murphy said. "We have a lot of work left to do. I am not ready to cross it off the list."
And she won't.
Contact the writer: miorfino@timesshamrock.com, miorfinoTT on Twitter