Volunteers to be honoured at Willows Estate
Wednesday, March 21, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
Lorna Rummenie says the volunteer work she does at Willows Estate lifts her spirit and makes residents happy.

Rummenie has been a volunteer at the Aurora long-term care home for over 15 years. She is one of four members of the Aurora First Baptist Church who visits the home three times per month. Volunteer work performed by Rummenie and her group involves singing hymns, reading Scripture and talking to residents.

“They’re enjoying it,” Rummenie says. “They keep asking when we’re coming back.”

Rummenie is one of about 50 volunteers who will be honoured at an appreciation dinner being held at Willows Estate on April 19. The dinner coincides with National Volunteer Week, which runs April 15-21.

“We always recognize our volunteers with a dinner and we always get a big turnout,” says Teddy Mazzuca, life enrichment co-ordinator at Willows Estate. Mazzuca says volunteers will join management, staff and residents at the dinner.

Mazzuca points out that often volunteers are an overlooked segment of the long-term care industry. This is not the case at Willows Estate, she says. Volunteers are seen as equals at the home.

“They are like family to us,” she says. “We look at them as part of the team.”

Although many long-term care homes have struggled to recruit an adequate number of volunteers, Mazzuca says Willows Estate has never had that problem.

“We’ve been fortunate in that regard,” she says. “We have good relations with our family members and they often recommend people to us.”

Some of the work volunteers do includes knitting, singalongs and pet therapy.

Mazzuca says the majority of Willows Estate’s volunteers are retired people who “just want to help out in the community.”

“They are very kind, giving people that just want to give back to the community,” she says.

And how does Rummenie feel about her volunteer work?

“It lifts my spirit,” she says. “I learn a lot, too. It does a lot for me.”