35 YEARS OF GIVING TO CITY’S NEEDY
‘IF YOU HAVE LOTS, IT’S EASY TO JUST GIVE A LITTLE,’ COUPLE SAYS
Although he’s been helping out with Sonshine Community Services since Day 1, Harry Simmelink doesn’t really think of it as volunteering.
It’s just lending a hand, doing what needs to be done, he says with a shrug.
“Ten years, maybe, for me,” Harry says.
But you could also say 35 years, since Harry and his wife Irene have been lending a hand at Sonshine since it began in 1978. The couple are members of River Park Church, which established the agency to serve homeless families. Sonshine’s main focus now is providing support for women and their children fleeing domestic violence.
“I think I really believe in this, helping out people who are needy. And they are needy, aren’t they?” Irene says. “It’s been different things we’ve done. It hasn’t been 30 years of doing groceries.”
That’s their regular shift these days, however. On Tuesdays, they pick up hampers from the Calgary Food Bank and deliver them to some residents at Sonshine’s secure facility. The apartmentstyle building can house 24 families, with up to 40 children, in its 24 fully furnished suites.
Clients and their children take part in a range of services during the yearlong program, from individual and group counselling to parenting education, mentoring and life-skills groups. Volunteers from all walks of life are a crucial part of the process, says Geri Karsten, director of community and residential services at Sonshine. The agency has an annual budget of $1.4 million, $60,000 of which comes from government.
“Without (volunteers), we would struggle greatly. The volunteers provide extra support,” Karsten says. “For example, some volunteers provide support around English as a second language issues. Others help clean suites between clients, which saves us money.”
In December 2012, for instance, 52 volunteers contributed 116.5 hours of service, from making birthday cakes to cleaning vacated suites to mentoring clients. That figure was part of the nearly 2,600 volunteer hours logged at Sonshine Community Service last year.
All those hours also sends a message to the women and children trying to rebuild their lives after ending abusive relationships.
“It says we have people who care, and they’re not being paid to care. It’s an important message because sometimes the clients say, ‘You’re only helping me because it’s your job,’ ” Karsten says. “And we can say, ‘These people aren’t being paid to be here.’ ”
Harry and Irene, who emigrated separately from Holland in the 1950s and met at River Park Church, say volunteering also makes them appreciate what they have that much more.
“My life is so much easier,” Irene says. “If you have a blue day, you just think of Sonshine and think, ‘Pah! What do I have to be crabbing about?’ ”
“This country gave us so much, we figure we’d give some back,” adds Harry.
Giving of themselves for a few hours a week is part of belonging to the community at large, they say.
“It could happen to anyone, at any time. None of us thinks things can go wrong in our lives,” Irene points out. “We all need a friend. If you have lots, it’s easy to just give a little.”