KAGAWONG— According to Webster’s Dictionary, a volunteer is a “person who chooses freely to enter into a transaction with no promise of compensation.”
Whether you are the type of person who craves a lot of social interaction or whether you prefer as little as possible, volunteering has social, career and personal benefits.
After raising three daughters, Deb Flaxman moved to Kagawong from Toronto in 2019. She had been coming to the Island since 1990, staying with a colleague of her former husband’s and then 10 years on Robertson Road and Grandor, both in Billings Township.
“Volunteering has always been part of my life,” Ms. Flaxman shared. Four generations in her family have been active in giving back beginning with her grandparents, her father in the Lions Club and her mother in the church, right down to her daughters, who all live in the GTA. “It makes me feel good and warms my heart that they can have empathy and connect with people in the world around them.”
Her Aunt Elaine has been volunteering for 40 years at St. John’s Rehab in Toronto.
Ms. Flaxman found Kagawong and its community a quick and easy fit, connecting with the church group at St John’s, and then working at Main Street Cafe (prior to COVID-19). “It was a wonderful way to meet everybody.”
When an opening on the Museum Board became available, Ms. Flaxman joined the dedicated team of volunteers. She also spent a short stint on the Parks, Recreation and Wellness Committee, assisting with fundraising for the rink boards at the outdoor facility at the Park Centre. Be it helping out at the church for their craft and bake sale or putting up Christmas lights alongside members of the Economic Development Committee, you will always find Ms. Flaxman lending a hand.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Ms. Flaxman, who was looking to become “involved in a different way,” put her name in for a recent vacancy on Billings council. “The opportunity came up and the timing was good.” Although she was not the successful candidate, “it was a great experience.”
Finding the pandemic “very isolating” and coming out of the COVID bubble and mixing with others in a more normal fashion is what led her to take seats on committees and other roles with the church and museum.
Spending time in Kagawong has become “a huge part of our life” she said, referring to her grown daughters. “It has become a safe zone which offers a sense of peace.”
Ms. Flaxman served on the Davisville School Parents Council for 12 years. “It was an intercity school where I had an opportunity to help with fundraising and outreach for immigrant families. One of the more rewarding programs she helped with was the reading program.”
She shared a story of an incident where a young man called out to her while riding on the subway. “You taught me how to read,” he said, “and now I can go to university.”
“It made me feel so good. You don’t know how you’re going to touch someone’s life.”
Ms. Flaxman is one of the members of the outreach program at St John’s in Kagawong. Each year she, along with other volunteers, put together baskets for shut-ins and folks who live alone and deliver to their home at Christmastime. “It makes them feel special; that someone has thought of them even if only briefly. It can really make a difference in their day. It is truly a gift.”
Manitoulin Family Resources now has one more volunteer as Ms. Flaxman reached out to them recently and “checked all the boxes” on the application form. They are fortunate to have someone as dedicated and selfless as Ms. Flaxman.
by Sharon Jackson
