Giving back to the community.

Between working with the Camphill media group, attending day programs, working, and volunteering, Jamie and Josh are dedicated to being involved in the community. Both Jamie and Josh had thoughtful perspectives on volunteering and shared with us their experiences and advice.

Jamie has volunteered with Salvation Army in Barrie at the Bayside Mission. There, together with his friend Ryan, Jamie would serve meals to individuals who experience food insecurity. “I knew there were people that didn’t have food there and I like being helpful” Jamie told us.  Jamie recognized that each person has an important part to play in helping others. He explained, “We would take turns each week. One week I would dry dishes and one week Ryan would dry dishes. We would swap, you know, Ryan would dry dishes and I would serve dessert. And the next week he would do dessert and I would dry dishes”.

During the pandemic, many volunteer programs were put on pause. Jamie told us that he’s hoping to return to volunteering soon and has decided to make it one of his goals in his Person-Centred Planning meetings. Josh is also hoping to return to his volunteer positions soon.

Before the pandemic, Josh volunteered at a nursing home in Barrie. There, Josh helped to deliver the mail to the seniors who lived at the nursing home—a responsibility he has since taken on as mail carrier at Camphill—and was involved in several activities. Josh would go with individuals to get their hair done, as well as help with birthday parties, special events and outings. Josh explained, “We would go out on weekends, and we would take them to the mall and stuff. I’d help push their wheelchairs. I really used to enjoy it. I’d love to get back into doing that”.

Both Jamie and Josh highly recommend volunteering to anyone who might be on the fence about getting out into the community. Jamie told us, “The people we served at the Salvation Army feel very happy and they like the meals that we cook for them. They’re just so thankful that they have a soup kitchen that we can serve them at”. About volunteering, Josh says, “It’s really worth it in the end. It makes happy faces on people you volunteer with. They get a lot out of it and so do I.”