Courtesy Photo Master Sgt. Ronald Pitts of the Maryland National Guard spreads a message of community service.

He built a life around volunteering to help those in need.

And after finding a way to combine both aspects of his life, Pitts received a Presidential Volunteer Service Award earlier this month.

Pitts spent most of his 34 years in the National Guard working in public relations. About eight years ago he joined the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a volunteer group that teaches service members and employers about their legal rights and responsibilities regarding employment and re-employment after coming home from a deployment.

The group's mission meshed nicely with Pitts' day job with the Frederick County Workforce Services, where he helped employers find training opportunities, more efficiently post job ads and more.

His connections with local business owners helped him work his way up through the organization, where he serves as the Western Maryland area chairman.

And though he retired from his county job two years ago, he still finds ways to multitask. While teaching basic journalism skills to National Guard units across the state, he sneaks in a quick explanation of re-employment laws as they relate to guardsmen returning from active duty.

In 2008, Pitts' multitasking efforts helped rack up more than 200 volunteer hours with the group, which earned him the presidential award, said Butch Hensel, the group's Maryland committee executive director. Hensel said most volunteers put in about 75 hours per year.

But that 200-plus hours is only the beginning of Pitts' community service. He volunteers with his church, traveling to the Chocktaw Indian Reservation and Lee County, Va., among the poorest counties on the East Coast. He is also involved in the American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America and the 29th Division Association. One of his groups, the Maj. Gen. Boyd M. Cook Veterans Memorial Foundation, was started in Frederick County and helps veterans and the families of service members deployed overseas.

"At this stage in my life it's payback time," Pitts said. "A lot of people throughout my life have done a lot of wonderful things for me, to promote me. Well, there's absolutely nothing I can do for those individuals, they've long since passed. But that doesn't mean I can't be that type of person that pushes and helps people as well."

The 1968 graduate of Walkersville High School said his family -- including his father, who served for 20 years in the Navy -- helped instill the urge to make the world a better place.

"I grew up in a family where you didn't complain about anything unless you were willing to do something about it," he said. "And I think the general theme at home was, 'if not you, who?' And if you complain about something, well, what are you going to do about it?"

Pitts said he tries to spread his message of community service, saying that everyone can do something to help, even if it's not as big a task as building a house or as time-consuming as going on a church mission.

"Stand up for your community," he said.