We know that volunteers are the backbone of any community. Without the efforts of people who donate their time, energy and expertise – asking for nothing but a thank you in return – many vital organizations and agencies would simply cease to function. In our third annual Our People, Our Peninsula feature, Peace Arch News is profiling seven volunteers whose efforts are making a meaningful difference in their community.
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Volunteer Pat Savard’s introduction to the Oneness Gogos came about, in part at least, as a result of an article in the Peace Arch News.
A full-page story about the Stephen Lewis Grandmother to Grandmother campaign, connecting local women to their peers in Africa, caught her eye.
She was inspired to reach out and see what the group was all about. From the very first meeting she attended, Savard says, she was made to feel welcome and needed.
“I quickly bonded with the ladies, was put on the craft committee, learned to sell, and felt that I had found my ‘tribe.’”
It was in many ways, she says, a perfect fit.
“When I retired from my job I was spending my time sewing and doing crafts, as those were my hobbies,” Savard explains.
And she was more than happy to put those creative skills to work for a cause that already had a place in her heart.
“I had a soft spot for Africa, because my father used to work there before I was born and, as a child, I loved looking at his photos of that time.
“I was also familiar with Stephen Lewis and his politics. I am a grandmother and realize what a monumental job the African grandmothers are doing raising so many grandchildren on their own as a result of losing their children to the HIV Aids pandemic.
For their part, the Gogos couldn’t be happier that fate – and a newspaper article – set Savard on her path to their organization.
Asked to explain what makes Savard’s contribution so valuable to the group, the other Gogos cited her willingness to to step forward (currently she is the note-taker of minutes of the meetings) and the fact she is “always helping out with everything.”
Savard’s positive spirit and her ability to use her creative skills to help the group raise money to support its efforts in Africa have made a world of difference, they agree.