Volunteering
Volunteering touches all that we do at the MFRC. A wide range of volunteer opportunities exists for you to become involved and make a positive impact in the military family community. Whether your interest is in meeting new people, working with children and youth, building a resume and enhancing your professional expertise – volunteering for us will provide numerous rewards.
Volunteer Profile - Ruth D'Hollander
A few years ago, Ruth D’Hollander looked out from her Esquimalt home and saw a couple ships leave for a long deployment.
“It clicked for me,” says Ruth, whose husband René had served in the Belgian Navy. “Those are emotional times and here I was 50 years later feeling those emotions again.”
While René was in the Navy, Ruth had to deal with the challenges of a foreign culture and language. Looking at those ships leave, she knew that she had to do something for “those families left behind” and decided to volunteer with the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre.
For the past two years, Ruth and an ad hoc group at St. Paul’s Church have volunteered their services in a wide variety of areas. They have provided child care, taken food to deployment coffee nights and even flipped pancakes at West Coast Welcome. Many members of the church are ex-military members and military spouses simply looking for a way to give back. The group’s latest initiative has been quite popular: monthly dinners for those experiencing a deployment.
“They are so dedicated and committed,” says Sara Mansi, the coordinator of volunteers, of Ruth and her group. “They make themselves available for anything and everything. They are just doing it out of the good of their hearts. This is their way of staying connected and reaching out. ”
MFRC/PSP Volunteer Recognition Dinner
Our yearly dinner to honour our volunteers and their contribution to the military community. This year's event coincided with the 100th anniversary of Canada's Navy. There was music, dinner and a hilarious show by Professional Comedic Hypnotist Gavin Hooper. This event was sponsored by our friends at SISIP.
Volunteer Profile - Paul Hardy
Paul Hardy is incredible. Let’s be honest about it. He has overcome tremendous odds to become an inspiration for everyone at the MFRC.
On August 13, 2002 around 1am, Paul was walking on the side of the road on Pender Island when a truck hit him. It wasn’t until 9am that
someone found him by the side of road with broken legs and a cracked skull. He spent 19 days in a coma and nine months in hospital.
HeadLine Magazine, a publication that focuses on the brain injury community, did a story on Paul. The editor knew someone at the MFRC and put him in contact with us. He has been a MFRC volunteer for the past five years.
“I enjoy it so much,” says Paul who uses volunteering to keep active and make friends. “I just want to work as much as I can. I really enjoy it.”
He started at the now-defunct MFRC Thrift Store but now spends two day a week split between the Signal Hill location helping around the office and the Lampson location cleaning daycare toys.
An avid paint baller for the past 22 years, Paul spends two to six times per month partaking in that hobby.
"Paul is wonderful asset to the MFRC,” says Sara Mansi, the Coordinator of Volunteers. “His positive attitude and commitment to the MFRC and military families is a wonderful example to all of us."
