Blue Brigade member celebrates golden anniversary

RVH Volunteer Celebrates 50 Years of Service

At the Annual General Meeting on June 6, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre's (RVH) Auxiliary honoured Josie Hunter for a remarkable 50 years of volunteer service.

RVH President and CEO Gail Hunt and RVH Auxiliary President Lise McCourt presented Hunter with her well-deserved volunteer service pin. "What an incredible accomplishment," says McCourt."The Auxiliary and RVH have been blessed by people like Josie who have been so generous with their time and kindness in helping patients."

Hunter joined the RVH Women's Auxiliary (as it was called then) in November 1972 at the urging of friends who were already involved in the organization. She began volunteering in the hospital gift shop where she was responsible for purchasing chocolate bars. She enjoyed it so much; she would spend the next fifty years working in the shop, as well as supporting Auxiliary tag days and bazaars.

"I made a lot of good friends, and we had so many good times together," says Hunter. "It was a social life!"

When the gift shop was first opened in 1963, it was operated solely by volunteers.  Today, a full-time manager runs the shop with volunteer staff, but all proceeds still go directly to patient care.

"The Auxiliary has a very long and rich history of volunteering. It began in 1897 with four women who decided to raise funds for the first hospital in Barrie. We recently celebrated our 125th anniversary, and the Auxiliary remains a cornerstone of the RVH legacy. In addition to helping support patient care, we are also a mighty fundraising force. We are currently working on our $5 million pledge to the Keep Life Wild campaign, which we hope to complete in record time," says McCourt.