“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

That phrase – known as the “Golden Rule” and a central pillar of the Catholic church, along with many other religions – is what Larry and Ann Prindaville of Dixon reference as their main reason for devoting much of their time to volunteering at many organizations in the Sauk Valley area.

More than 10 years ago, when the couple retired from their decades-long careers at Sinnissippi Centers, a behavioral healthcare center, they decided to dive into their volunteer careers.

For Ann, volunteering started when she was about 13 years old. With the goal of one day becoming a nurse, she became a “candy striper,” Larry said.

Candy stripers were healthcare volunteers, known for their red-and-white striped uniforms, who assisted patients with nonclinical tasks such as writing a letter or just sat and talked with them, Ann said.

Larry also began volunteering at an early age as an altar server for his church, and with 4-H and Dixon’s Knights of Columbus Council 690, which he would go on to join.

“I can see that not everybody lives their life the way that I choose to live mine,” Larry said, referring to his faith, “but I can see there’s a whole lot of ways to do good.”

“There are a lot of ways to be good men. I think that the Knights help us to spread that good around,” Larry said.

The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic men’s organization that Larry joined around the time he retired and said he wished he had joined about 40 years earlier. In 2025, Larry was elected “Grand Knight,” who serves as the leader of the council, which has about 300 members.

“I think it’s a wonderful organization built on the foundations of charity, unity, fraternity and ... patriotism,” Larry said. “It is designed, it is structured, to make good men better, to make them better fathers, better husbands, better Catholics.”

Although “only men can be Knights, ladies of the Knights are pretty important as well,” Larry said, adding that Ann volunteers with him at many of their activities.

The council hosts numerous annual events that Larry helps organize and take part in alongside Ann, including a blood drive and a vocations raffle that raises donations for seminarians pursuing religious studies.

Another annual effort is the Tootsie Roll drive, where council members collect donations around Dixon to support children with intellectual disabilities; the 2025 campaign raised almost $5,000, all of which was distributed locally, Larry said.

The council also has many events tailored to kids, such as its annual free-throw basketball contest, a poster contest for grade school students and an essay contest for eighth grade students, Larry said.

In addition, the council hosts public meals, including occasional third Saturday night dinners and a scholarship breakfast on the last Sunday of each month that typically serves more than 200 people, Larry said.

Larry pointed to that breakfast as one of his favorites.

“I take it upon myself to greet everybody I can, to sit down with everybody I can,” Larry said. “We’re serving up good food. We’re serving up good fellowship.”

Larry and Ann also volunteer, and have for quite some time, at St Anne’s Catholic Church in Dixon as ushers, counters for the Holy Day and Sunday collections and do various cleaning tasks.

Among other things, Anne washes and irons the linens used for church services, and Larry vacuums, they said.

“I don’t want people to know that I vacuum,” Larry said, laughing.

“I hate having people walk in when I’m in there,” he continued, explaining that they’ve hired someone to vacuum their house for 20 years.

Larry is also part of the church’s finance council and assists or leads certain services as needed.

Outside those organizations, the couple has continued to stay involved with healthcare since retiring by visiting people who are sick, at their homes or care facilities, and transporting elderly people to doctors’ appointments or other places, Larry said.

They’ve also stayed connected to Sinnissippi.

Larry has served on its board of directors for more than 10 years and on the board of its affiliate organization for more than 25 years. Together, the couple volunteers at many Sinnissippi activities, such as the annual holiday food basket distribution, the blood drive and nearly all client-related activities, including holiday parties, picnics and celebrations.

The couple has also been involved for almost 50 years with the Dixon Lions Club, which supports individuals with vision and hearing needs.

They’ve volunteered at many of the Lions Club’s events, including Sight and Sound Sweepstakes, Twenty for Plenty, the Halloween parade and trunk or treat. For nearly all the years they’ve been involved with the organization, they’ve volunteered for its Candy Day, collecting donations to support its cause, and often brought their kids along to help, Larry said.

Larry also helps oversee the organization’s scholarship contest for Dixon High School seniors planning to pursue higher education after graduation.

Students fill out an application and write a short essay. Two students are selected for the $500 scholarship by Larry and other members of the judging committee, Larry said.

The couple agreed that they volunteer because of that “Golden Rule.”

Larry, who made notes in preparation for their interview with Shaw Local, asked Ann why she volunteers on their drive over. She referenced that rule, not realizing that Larry had jotted it down as his reasoning as well.

“I said, ‘That’s scary that I would say the same thing that he jotted down,’” Ann said, laughing. “We do that quite a bit.”

All of it comes back to “our faith and our belief that we need to do good works for others,” Larry said.

“Church has been a foundation of our lives forever. We think that as long as we are able, we’re going to try to help others out, and when we’re unable, possibly, we’ll have been role models for our kids,” he said.

The two also cited the teaching to “love thy neighbor,” saying they do it simply because it helps others and brings a smile to their faces.

“It’s a privilege to be able to give ... to people in need,” Larry said.

Larry said his favorite thing about volunteering is “interacting with others,” both the other volunteers and those in need.

“I like it because I get to be with you,” Ann said, referring to Larry, and said she knows it’s cheesy.

“We love being in Dixon. We love the people of Dixon. Everything that we do brings us into contact with people that we’ve known forever and people that we just met that day,” Larry said.