When JoAnne Wright first heard she would be receiving the June Callwood outstanding achievement award from the province of Ontario as recognition for her volunteer efforts in Collingwood, she cried.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we spoke with Wright, 75, volunteer at Hospice Georgian Triangle.
Q: For how long have you lived in Wasaga Beach?
A: Eight and a half years.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I grew up south of Windsor, in a small town.
Q: What brought you up to this area?
A: My husband retired a couple of years before I did. I worked for the Bank of Montreal. They eliminated my job after 20 years.
We had decided years before we were going to move up here anyway. We had planned to build over in Georgian Meadows.
When they forced me out, we decided to move up here. All my friends live in Collingwood. It made sense to sell our house and move up.
Q: You’re an active volunteer in the community. With which organizations do you volunteer your time?
A: When we moved here, I started at Hospice Georgian Triangle. I also started then doing shopping for My Friend’s House. Now, I pick up groceries for them and deliver them.
Most of my time is spent at the hospice. On Wednesdays, I go in and call people to thank them for their donations. I’ve been working at Campbell House for eight years – minus the COVID-19 years – every Thursday in the kitchen. We do lunches for families and clients.
It’s fun. It’s great to get to know people. It’s a good feeling.
Q: What made you want to donate your time to those causes in particular?
A: When my mother passed away, she was in Leamington and there wasn’t any palliative care. When we moved up here, I was at The Huron Club having a drink and they said we had to leave because the hospice was holding a volunteer appreciation event.
Before I even walked out the door, I had a whole volunteer package in my hand.
Q: You were recently awarded the June Callwood outstanding achievement award from the province. Can you tell me a bit about the award?
A: They give it out every year.
Hospice staff had sent me an email telling me I had received the award, but I had been away. We were at a volunteer appreciation night and Trish Rawn (Hospice Georgian Triangle executive director) asked me if my email was working, and told me that I would be receiving the award.
I started to cry.
I thought there were other people who deserve it more than I do.
A week ago we went down to Toronto (for the ceremony). There were 65 of us who received it.
Q: How did it feel to be given the award?
A: I was blown away by it.
The women I knew who had received it are absolutely amazing people. It never dawned on me that I could get it.
I’m very honoured to have it.
Q: Do you have other hobbies you’d like to talk about?
A: I do a lot of sewing and gardening, but that’s about it.
I also do dispatch at the Georgian Triangle Humane Society on Tuesdays.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like people in Collingwood to know about you?
A: We’re always trying to get volunteers. I think Hospice Georgian Triangle is one of the best places you can volunteer your time.
It’s so appreciated and the staff there are absolutely unbelievable. I’m glad I’m part of that family.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we speak with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way, letting them tell their own stories in their own words. This feature runs on CollingwoodToday every weekend. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
