By Joanne Dorr
The Haldimand Press
DUNNVILLE— From April 16 to 22, 2023 Volunteer Canada and Edgewater Gardens (EG) Long Term Care are celebrating Canada’s 24 million volunteers during National Volunteer Week. This annual celebration is a time to thank and recognize volunteers from coast to coast. This year’s theme, “Volunteering is Empathy in Action”, highlights how this profound human connection is at the heart of healthier individuals and stronger communities.
EG is a 64-bed home located in Dunnville. For a small home, they have an active volunteer group headed by the Dunnville Health Centre Volunteer Association. Many of their volunteers are retired individuals, students, and community groups wishing to offer support to the residents.
Volunteering at Edgewater takes on many forms and can be as simple as visiting people who may feel lonely, assisting with administrative duties, or participating on committees within the home. Some of the volunteer tasks include manicures, palliative care support, card games, gardening and groundskeeping, and laundry delivery, to name a few.
John Bittman is a local artist who has volunteered at Edgewater Gardens for four years. Bittman wanted to share his talents and started teaching sculpting to a small group of residents in EG’s Meadow Lane area. Since then, the group has morphed into a large painting class offered in the chapel and foyer area – the only room large enough to accommodate all the painters! One of the biggest draws to the group is the fun that they have in each other’s company.
The group has created so many paintings that EG created two art galleries in the home (one on each floor). EG Family Council will be hosting a fundraising Art Crawl in June to sell and show the collection.
DUNNVILLE—Linda Grimm offering a manicure to MJ Crook, Edgewater resident.
Linda Grimm is a new volunteer at EG. Grimm’s husband Dennis resided at Edgewater and when he passed away she decided to remain involved conducting tours for potential applicants and families, assisting with church service, and offering manicures in her spare time. Grimm saw a need in the home and wished to help.
She has a background in the hospitality industry, and this made her an ideal person to conduct tours where she can share her personal experience and knowledge of the home, as well as answer any questions potential applicants may have.
Like Grimm and Bittman, EG residents also give back to their community and volunteer in their own ways. EG partners with Paddles of the Grand by sanding paddles for their projects; residents enjoy knowing that they are contributing to this program. They also have started a knitting and crochet group at the invitation of Haldimand-Norfolk REACH Child Clinical Services. Residents and volunteers create teddy bears and clothing for this organization to hand out when comfort is needed. Just because a person lives in long term care doesn’t mean that they can’t support their community.
This year the Dunnville Health Centre Volunteer Association is easing back into pre-Covid plans for their volunteers by hosting a social and having a special cake for volunteers in the hospital cafeteria. EG is giving each volunteer a T-shirt and lanyard, which organizers hope volunteers will wear proudly.
During National Volunteer Week 2023, volunteers celebrate their collective impact through kindness, generosity, and commitment to volunteering.
