When Lori MacLennan retired as a secretary at South Park Elementary, she was thrilled to switch into her new role as grandmother. But, as much as she relished being free to devote more time to her family, she also knew she needed to keep busy and engaged with her community.
“I found that if I didn’t have something to motivate me, I was sitting around doing nothing,” she says.
A fellow retired secretary suggested that she join the Delta Hospital Auxiliary.
Twenty years later, MacLennan is still finding it a rewarding way to make her community a healthier place to live.
“We’re a very close-knit group,” she says. “I think we’re all extremely committed to the hospital and doing everything we can to enable such things as the purchase of equipment. It’s quite staggering [how much we’re able to contribute] for the size of the community.”
Staggering, indeed. In January, the auxiliary donated $3 million to the Coming Home campaign to build a new long-term care centre. This is on top of the $700,000 the auxiliary donated just last May for new equipment.
Founded in 1969, the auxiliary now has more than 300 dedicated volunteers who, collectively, freely offer nearly 60,000 hours of their time each year.
There’s a niche for everyone, MacLennan says, whether it’s working at the hospital’s Dogwood Gift Shop and Courtyard Café or providing low-cost items for sale at the massive Delta Auxiliary Thrift Store in Ladner Village.
On top of her secretarial duties — both to help the auxiliary society’s general manager, Kathy Wells, and take minutes at society meetings —MacLennan also dons a blue jacket at the gift store.
“The store is a haven some days for people who are a little stressed out, visiting someone or waiting for somebody in emergency,” she says. “It gives them someplace to go and chat. Obviously, we’re there to make money but we’re also there to lend an ear.”
The gift store isn’t as busy as it was pre-COVID, but the numbers are getting stronger. Likewise, some of the people who had to stop volunteering during the pandemic haven’t returned; even though some members have moved away, they still return to the camaraderie found in the shop.
“We’re always looking for volunteers,” she says, welcoming people of all ages to become part of “the little hospital that could.”
“Those of us who have been around for 20 years-plus are getting a little long in the tooth. It’s harder to recruit younger people now because they’re so busy but it’s been a big help to recruit several men to work at the thrift store.
“It’s just a sense of fulfillment when you’re working towards such an amazing cause.”
To find your niche with the auxiliary, go to www.deltahospitalauxiliary.org.
