Gloria Clay, or Glory Bee as she prefers to be called, is a woman full of spunk and humour and she loves sharing her bright personality by being a volunteer driver in Lake Country, taking people to doctor and hospital appointments, or even doing some shopping for them if they can’t do it for themselves.
“I love volunteering as it has allowed me to meet so many lovely folks and to be able to help them as much as I can,” she says enthusiastically. “I stay motivated, busy and active. As I tell folks, it keeps me from rusting up—I have enough rust already. Volunteering fills my days with lots of great memories.”
Glory Bee has lived in Lake Country for 11 years and has been volunteering for the last four years. People who know her, recognize her as someone who loves to help and who hates being late. One day when she went to pick up a new client, she actually was running late and although it made for an awkward first meeting, it all worked out in the end.
“I thought, ‘Oh dear! She won’t want me to drive her again!!’,” laughs Glory. “I did drive her … again and again, and she is such a lovely lady. She loves that we are both Leos and we get along very well. If I hadn’t been volunteering, I wouldn’t have met this lovely woman.”
Glory Bee likes to encourage everyone to volunteer either formally or informally. ”Check out what you could offer to others in our community: maybe you could help with a few repairs around their place, or do some snow shovelling to clear driveways in the winter. Maybe spend a few hours visiting, playing cards, or reading to someone who can’t see. Or, maybe, like me, you enjoy driving and would love to be able to go for a lovely drive with someone that has an appointment. Find your niche and follow through—you won’t regret it. Sooner or later, we are all going to need someone to help us. And if we can make friends that way, more power to us all.”
If you are looking for volunteer opportunities and to make some friends, check out our volunteer matching platform VolunteerConnector on KCR Community Resources’ website (www.kcr.ca/volunteer) or mark your calendars for Saturday, Sept. 18 and come to the Okanagan Volunteer Fair at the Parkinson Recreation Centre.
READ MORE: KCR: Volunteering is, finding your passion
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Dorothee Birker is the communications and development coordinator for KCR Community Resources, a multi-service agency offering programs and services to meet community, family and individual needs.