"Volunteering is my joy..."

By Jack Krayenhoff

Mavis DeGerolamo recently received quite a recognition: the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award for outstanding services to the community. It is a big, handsome silver medal with the Queen's portrait in profile, hanging from a colourful ribbon. It also comes with a quite detailed guide as to what are the appropriate occasions to wear it, and where to attach it to the clothing. This last requirement is not so easy to fulfill for a female, so Mavis does not think she will wear it very often, but still, it's nice when your efforts get acknowledged.

Not that it is her first award - in 2008 she received the Valued Elder recognition Award from the University of Victoria.

To list her achievements, involvements and contributions is a daunting task, but take a look at this:

- Fundraising for the Red Shield Foundation, the Cancer Society, the Kidney Foundation, the Mustard Seed Food Bank and the Victoria Epilepsy and Parkinson Foundation. Enough to keep one person fully occupied? Keep reading.

- Peace Activist with the Women in Black, who conduct a monthly vigil on Centennial Square in solidarity with the Israeli and Palestinian women who together were together demonstrating for a world without violence, both having lost so many loved ones in that conflict.

- Secretary, then President of the British Columbia Black History Society, Victoria Branch.

- Chair, James Bay Community Project.  Mavis is a James Bay citizen herself.   When she had to step down from the Board, her maximum of six years being up, she continued volunteering in the Family Centre, which she calls 'the kiddie drop-in', where, she says, "I probably have more fun than they do".  She also is member of the Seniors Advisory Committee.

- President of the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria. There she taught English as Second Language for ten years, but had to make room for professionals when they came on stream. But that was not the end of language teaching for Mavis, for now she does it privately to servers at a Japanese restaurant, the Shisensushi. "We have great fun at my classes" Mavis says; "We teach English of course, but also do some role playing, and also small talk. Even some Canadians find that hard! We are very close; I have had them over at my house for parties".

- In the context of the ICA she also gives citizenship classes, and twice a year, just prior to the awarding of the citizenship ceremonies to immigrants, she organizes for these folk round table discussions to which she invites speakers on subjects like business, sports, volunteering and many others, and how these can be involved in active citizenship. She adds, "Afterward people will say, 'We feel we are part of the community. People are so welcoming'.  It's very lovely, very inspiring - very moving"

- Glengarry nursing home. Here Mavis' parents went in 1997, and Mavis retired from her teaching job 'to do what needed doing'. "When both my parents passed, I was so grateful to the staff because they had been wonderful, and I wanted to do something back". She became chair of the Family Advisory Council, but she also does a lot for individual patients. She even runs Bingo games! Carrie Peter, volunteer coordinator of Glengarry, is enthusiastic about all she does there.

Mavis was asked what she sees as her most important achievement.

"Probably the largest impact, both in the community and abroad, would have been with the Global Village store, where I have been working and also chair the Board. Global Village promotes fair trade. It is a supporting group in developing nations, and it does not give handouts, but hands-up, mostly to women's cooperatives. We provide an outlet for their native crafts for a fair price, enabling them to feed their children and send them to school. In our own community we sell their crafts at a fair price, which helps the people here to make a contribution to the cause too by volunteering, and to feel good about what they buy.

"How do you manage to do all this? You must have learned to say 'no' at some point?"

A pause. Mavis' eyes look at the distance through the window, as if looking for an answer there. After a while:

"My 'no' consists of 'hmmmm...I think I can do that'". She adds, "When you want to get something done you ask a busy person".

"What do you say to people who are retiring and say 'I'm not going to volunteer. I've worked hard all my life; and now I'm going to play hard'?"

She answers, "Of course you need a balance in life; you can't work all the time. I work in the garden, I have two marvellous cats and two great-grandchildren. That's part of my playtime. But to those people I say, 'you don't know what you're missing!' Volunteering is my joy, it's my life."