Interior Health is celebrating its thousands of volunteers during National Volunteer Week April 6 – 12. Volunteer Week is an opportunity to recognize and thank volunteers for the work they do to enhance health care delivery throughout the region.

Volunteer recognition events will be held at many local hospitals and residential care facilities throughout the region during the month of April. In other areas, gifts or cards are offered as thanks.

Interior Health is supported by an estimated 4,800 volunteers.

“I really cannot say enough about our volunteers,” says Norman Embree, Interior Health Board Chair.  “We literally could not do what we do without their support.”

Within the Okanagan, Interior Health will celebrate volunteers such as 97-year-old Christina Leathley. Leathley will be honoured during Kelowna General Hospital’s Volunteer Appreciation event and the Volunteer Services’ 50th Anniversary celebration.

A long standing volunteer at Kelowna General, Leathley was instrumental in starting the hospital’s Volunteer Services program 50 years ago. Still an active member of the Hospital Auxiliary, she recalls living through hard times, when everybody helped one another as the country was faced with war and the depression.

“It amazes me sometimes to think that I’ve been here for nearly a century,” she said with a laugh. “Aside from the hospital I volunteered with the Red Cross blood donor clinic, the Well Baby clinic, Meals on Wheels, lots of places. You have to be interested in your community and the people in it. There are always lots of jobs.”

“It’s nice to know that you helped get the ball rolling but you couldn’t do it without a lot of very wonderful people,” she said.

National Volunteer Week is Canada’s largest celebration of volunteers, volunteerism, and civic participation. It deserves to be recognized; across Canada 13.3 million volunteers contribute 2.1 billion total hours.

Interior Health is continually looking for special people to help out in a wide range of volunteer roles. Visit www.interiorhealth.ca under About Us > Get Involved for volunteer opportunities in your area.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014