[email protected]

Ayoola is one of our new youth summer volunteers. She is currently a grade 12 student. She is incredibly ambitious and is taking summer
school classes. One of her classes has a component called “Faith in Action” where the students are asked to go out into the community and use their talents and abilities to help others through volunteer work with a not-for-profit organization. Ayoola chose LSCO as her placement; she is very friendly and hard working and we couldn’t be more happy to have her here with us.

Ayoola said that the best part about her experience so far here at LSCO is the people. She emphasized, “I love how nice they are, and I like
hearing their stories about their lives and experiences. It just makes this place such a great environment”.

Ayoola has wonderful stories to share too. For example, Ayoola was born in Toronto, Ontario. She lived in Toronto until after preschool, then she moved with her family to Nigeria. In Nigeria she finished Grades 1 through 4; after which, they moved back to Toronto for grade
5 before settling in Lethbridge the following year. She will be graduating High School next year. In her free time, Ayoola said she likes to “play tennis, hang out with friends, go to the mall, watch movies, try new restaurants, and sometimes work out.” If Ayoola won a million
dollars, she would buy her dream house, and maybe a car too.

When asked about what motivates her to volunteer, Ayoola acknowledged that she has all the things she could wish for. She said, “It’s me wanting to… And even though I can do so little, I can still help by volunteering or helping people through stuff. It just makes me happier
because I’m not just doing it for myself, but I’m doing it for other people.” Ayoola has a great attitude to be around. Giving back truly does help the receiver and the giver.

Ayoola says it is her dad who inspires her. She explains, “He is always pushing me to be better, especially experience wise – he is always pushing me to try new things or do better in certain things. He motivates me and gives me advice.” Ayoola’s Dad must be so proud of
her. Ayoola has jumped both feet into multiple volunteer roles. She has volunteered in the kitchen washing dishes, and helping with Meals on Wheels food prep, as well as one of our first “Greeters” in our new volunteer opportunity.

We could all learn so much from Ayoola’s response to what she would say to someone who is considering volunteering, “Just do it, because
you never know what could really happen. For me, for instance, I didn’t know if I wanted to volunteer, but it was a mandatory thing, and
I did it. Just come with an open mindset because you definitely learn a lot of things, whether it’s experience or stories.” This was such a
heartwarming response. It was such a pleasure to get to learn more about Ayoola.

We have been enjoying getting to know our volunteers through our monthly spotlight. Please reach out to Bonnie at bjensen@lethseniors.
com or at the Support Services desk to nominate a volunteer for our future monthly spotlights.

Blayne has been volunteering for LSCO for many years. Currently Blayne helps out in the dining room and kitchen supporting the staff by washing down tables, wiping out the Meals on Wheels cooler bags, and putting away dishes. Blayne is dedicated to his role, and he is always willing to lend a helping hand.

Blayne is a happy guy. He always greets everyone with a great big smile. Blayne inspires those around him. Not only does he inspire us, he also feels inspired by many of the great people in his life, past and present. Blayne would like to recognize his friends and family –specifically his sister, Jill, and her family, Rob Miyashiro, the Executive Director here at the LSCO, his friends at the ARC, his keyworker, his roommate Jim, and his really good buddy, Wayne, from junior high who Blayne says “he was like my brother I never had”.

Blayne’s favourite thing about volunteering is all the people. All the people he sees that he knows, and all the people he gets to meet.
When Blayne isn’t volunteering, he is spending time with his family – he loves being an uncle. Blayne likes to tease and be teased. He said, “If they give me a hard time, I give them a hard time right back.” Blayne also enjoys playing cards. Blayne really enjoys volunteering and thinks other people should give it a try too. He said, “If you give back into it a little bit, and you like it, why not do it! Don’t stop! Just
keep on going.”

Thanks Blayne for all you support here at LSCO.

Joanne and Ben have been volunteering with LSCO for over two decades now. Like many of our wonderful volunteers, Joanne and Ben are committed and dependable. They truly love to give of their time and share their talents with LSCO. They believe that one of the most important things LSCO does for people is giving them the space to get out and meet others, socialize, then later at home they will have a good memory of what they did.
In the past Joanne and Ben have volunteered in the Kitchen. They were also regular Meals on Wheels volunteers until just recently when Ben sustained an injury; however, Ben is getting a bit better with each passing day. When he is ready Joanne and Ben would like to deliver Meals on Wheels again.
Joanne continues to keep busy with her other weekly volunteer role with LSCO at Winner’s Bingo helping raise essential funding. Joanne not only volunteers at Winner’s Bingo for LSCO but other charities too! She is truly remarkable. Joanne puts it beautifully when she said she volunteers because, “It feels good. It’s more for me. It helps me rather than somebody else as it gives me a feeling of accomplishment and something I’m proud to do… It feeds me. It is what I need to do.”
Ben’s favourite thing about volunteering is “the feeling you get”. It truly is a great feeling, isn’t it?!
It has been lovely getting to know Joanne and Ben. They both have a wonderful sense of humour as they joked around about how their daughter inspires them to get out and go shopping when she comes to visit. But in all seriousness, they truly feel inspired by their daughter, who is a go getter, and passes on her great energy to them. Joanne said, “She knows how to get you going.”.
To those in the community thinking about volunteering, Joanne and Ben suggest, “Do it! Give it a try.”, “You gotta try!” Joanne says her motto is, “You get what you give” – Joanne and Ben are true to this inspiring motto. Joanne said, “It’s not about the free lunch, it’s about feeding the soul”.
Thank you, Joanne and Ben. We here at LSCO feel fortunate to have you as volunteers. We feel equally lucky to have so many other
wonderful volunteers on our volunteer team and we will continue to be spotlighting volunteers monthly.

If you would like to nominate a volunteer for the monthly spotlight, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Bonnie at 403-320-2222 ext 202 or by email at [email protected]

Meet some of our Team of Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) Volunteers, Eleanor Doerksen, Carmen Gfrerer, Pat
Kincade, and Corrie Krueger. These committed volunteers have spent the months of March and April actively filing over 400 tax
files for low income members of our community and surrounding areas and we cannot thank them enough for their wonderful
support in helping LSCO offer this program.

Q: How long have you been volunteering with LSCO?

Eleanor: I’ve been preparing tax returns since 2015, maybe 2016.
Carmen: Approximately 1 month.
Pat: I have been doing volunteer income tax for 15 years at LSCO. I have done it professionally in the past and when the opportunity came along to take the training and become a volunteer, I was excited to do so.
Corrie: This is my 2nd year.

Q: What motivates you to be a volunteer?

Eleanor: Volunteering is one way to help others. It also is a benefit for me as it keeps me out in the community, meeting people, using my brain.
Carmen: I understand the benefits for low-income individuals and seniors to have their income taxes completed and access all the income they are eligible for. Having a company do simple tax returns can be very expensive for those on a fixed or limited income. Since I very much enjoy tax preparation, I figured I could give back in this simple way.
Pat: I love the challenge of doing income tax returns.
Corrie: It feeds my soul to volunteer!

Q: What’s your favourite thing about volunteering?

Eleanor: Volunteering helps me feel useful.
Carmen: Knowing I can use my skill to make someone’s life a little bit easier.
Pat: I love the people I meet.
Corrie: It not only feeds my soul, but it helps someone else out.

Q: Who influenced or inspired you to volunteer and/or give back to others?

Eleanor: Another accounting technician with whom I worked at MNP retired a year before I did and started preparing tax returns under
the CVITP at the Norbridge Seniors Centre. She encouraged me to join her. When I retired the following year, I decided that I would also prepare tax returns for low income people, but chose to do so at LSCO.
Carmen: My mother-in-law has always valued community and taught me the importance of giving back. She has a way of lighting up a room and making others feel special and I hope to pass a little of that light on myself.
Pat: There was a bridge player named Jack, who I played bridge with. Jack also did income tax and that is how I learned about the
program and became a registered volunteer. He was always working on returns (paper in those days) during bridge and so I asked
questions about how to become involved.
Corrie: I had an amazing soccer coach in my teens who showed me how fun volunteering was and how much he got out of it. He inspired me by showing how enjoyable it was!

We could not do what we do here at LSCO without our volunteers — These amazing Income Tax volunteers truly make a remarkable difference as they carried us through the income tax season.