Volunteers have always been integral to the health of the Squamish community. Whether we’re talking about a friendly neighbour helping with a backyard project, a local youth group working on outreach to folks without homes, or a team of seniors coming together to build something beautiful, they all leave a lasting impact.
Here are the stories of two inspiring Squamish volunteers.
Courtesy Squamish Men’s Shed
‘I was struggling with ways to be meaningfully involved’
Donald Lawton needed to find a new identity.
After spending his career as an Anglican priest, serving parishes worldwide, he retired with his wife to the Sea to Sky Corridor in 2017 and found himself missing the sense of belonging that came from heading a church.
“I missed the circle of friends and professional colleagues that naturally came through my work. And I missed the intellectual challenges that came with associating with those who share one’s vocation and academic background. I was struggling to find ways to be meaningfully involved with my new community,” he said.
Before long, he discovered Squamish Men’s Shed, the local chapter of an international movement aimed at promoting volunteerism, and he quickly became deeply involved.
“When I got involved with the Men’s Shed, I found a group of men with widely varied backgrounds but all of us had in common that we were retired from busy, fulfilling careers. One of the goals of the Men’s Shed is to promote social and mental health for retired men, who have a higher level of mental health concerns than the regular population,” he said.
One of the ways they do this is by going out into the community to take on construction and beautification projects. Since its inception, the members of the Men’s Shed have put in over 3,500 hours and created over 100 raised flower beds. This gives them a chance to build camaraderie through service.
“Men don’t tend to talk face-to-face so much as shoulder-to-shoulder, so it’s more when we’re out there doing things together that we’re socializing. Our Men’s Shed has made benches for public buildings, put up gates for a community allotment garden, installed a wheelchair ramp for a member, and made toys for the local Christmas toy drive,” he said.
Recently he has been offering woodworking workshops for a summer daycare program and a seniors care home, using skills he’d picked up half a century earlier. It’s a way for him to keep his brain active and to remain engaged, while engaging others.
“We have a community workshop which is a real blessing to the members who live in apartments, condos, and retirement homes. It was what attracted me to the group as I have had a lifetime hobby of woodworking. One of our members, who spends considerable time in the shop as he lives nearby in a retirement home, has amazed, inspired, and challenged us with the games and puzzles he has made as gifts for his family and friends,” Lawton said.
“The real blessing for me has been the social relationships I have built with those I have met at Men’s Shed. And I see how the Men’s Shed has fulfilled the needs of others who have struggled with the changes and challenges of retirement from focused careers. The Men’s Shed has become a community that provides me with friendship, involvement and connection to a wider community. I have found the team experience that had been so rewarding in my professional life and that I thought I had lost in retirement.”
The Men’s Shed is open seven days a week. To learn more or get involved, contact [email protected].
Courtesy Susan Brant
‘It’s a lovely way to share your love of reading’
It started as a chat on the estuary.
Susan Brant wasn’t actively looking for something to volunteer for. The long-time Squamish resident was out for a walk with her husband when they ran into a friend with connections to the library, who informed her of an opportunity to get involved. A new program was sending volunteers out into the community to help residents with accessibility issues get their hands on reading material.
“Because of COVID-19, it was a little more high tech. We couldn’t go into homes as planned and chat over tea. So what I ended up doing was talking with my patron on the phone about what she would enjoy to read, then I go and search it out for her online. If I can’t find something, I always have the librarians for back-up with further resources to sourcebooks,” she said.
“My patron pretty much only enjoys books she can listen to, and she’s not familiar with audiobooks because she likes CDs she can play. And she likes short stories, so that limits what we can offer her through the Squamish. She’s 25 years older than me, in her own home supported by family members, but she can’t read well, which is why she prefers a book that she can listen to.”
Brant then picks up the materials and delivers them to her patron, checking in to find out how she likes the literature and when she’s going to need more. It’s a role Brant loves because it gives her a chance to share her lifelong love of reading.
“It’s not a friendship role. It’s professional, but with a friendly tone. And this service isn’t only for seniors. It could be somebody who can’t drive, maybe a person who just had surgery and needs short-term assistance through their convalescence. It could just be somebody short on time with toddlers at home who needs someone to bring them books,” she said.
“For me, it’s an opportunity to talk about books with people and share my love of reading with them. It’s a lovely way to connect with people in the community.”
She believes volunteerism is crucial to Squamish’s future.
“Volunteerism has always been a strength of the Squamish community and I think as we grow, we’re losing a sense of those because our population is larger and busier. To have opportunities like this supports that core of volunteerism in the community that’s so important to help us build this beautiful place.”
To learn more about the library’s programs squamishlibrary.ca.
National Volunteer Week is from April 24 to 30, 2022. What does volunteering mean to you or your Squamish organization? Let us know with a letter to the editor: [email protected]. We aim to publish the letters during volunteer week.
