Volunteer sets good example
Published: August 24, 2005
Last year, 65-year-old Fran Clark made the difficult decision to move out of her apartment and into Pioneer Manor. A degenerative spinal condition was making it almost impossible to care for herself.
But even though it is hard for her to walk even a few steps, she always keeps herself busy through volunteer work.
Clark was presented with a volunteer award by the Coniston Lions Club recently. In particular, members wanted to thank her for putting two PowerPoint slide shows together on her computer two years ago for their 40th anniversary celebrations.
“She really re-energized us in her volunteerism. When she can overcome such difficulties, we have minor difficulties in relation to what she has. To all of the members, she is our shining star,” says the club’s past-president, Alice Shaw.
In appreciation, the Lion’s Club also donated $500 to Clark’s favourite charity, Sudbury Regional Hospital’s assistive communication clinic.
These days, Clark is still busy helping others as she zips around Pioneer Manor on her motorized scooter. She’s the vice-president of the long-term care facility’s residents’ council.
“I was going down in the elevator just now, and there was a lady…(who) was complaining about having to go to the front office to mail the letter.
Clarke said, ‘Give me that. I can be there in two seconds.’ I made her day. From now, all the ladies on this floor are going to give me all their mail.”
There’s always something to look forward to in life, she insists. Being in a long-term care facility doesn’t mean you’re in a dead-end situation.
Clark recently contributed to Pioneer Manor’s Year of the Veteran celebrations. She acquired old military photos of eight veterans who live in the building, digitally restored them, and put them on a poster along with new photos of the same people.
Computers are alien to most seniors – but that’s not the case with Clark. She learned how to use the technology six years ago, when she was a physiotherapy patient at Sudbury Regional Hospital.
Clark was having trouble with her handwriting, so the hospital’s assistive communication clinic staff introduced her to computers. She applied for funding to get a computer under the Ontario government’s assistive devices program.
Clark took to the technology like a duck does to water. Not just content to learn the basics, she took a course in Adobe Photoshop and now uses a voice-to-text program called Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Sudbury Regional Hospital occupational therapist Lynne Berthiaume is thrilled her department is receiving a donation from the Lion’s Club in honour of Clark.
Berthiaume, who worked with the woman at the hospital, has a long wish list of assistive technologies she’d like to buy. The donation is just enough to pay for a specialized mouse.
Clark is an amazing person, says Berthiaume. Not only does she volunteer herself under difficult circumstances, but she motivates others to volunteer as well.
“People are attracted to Fran in certain ways. She makes other people volunteer without them even knowing. She’s like a recruiter of volunteers.
You’re doing stuff, and it all feels right, but you don’t feel like a volunteer,” she says.
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