Meet Kathryn Kirby, volunteer, La Crete Community Health Centre

When Kathryn Kirby retired in 2019 after a long career in education, she knew one thing for certain: sitting still was not going to work for her.  

“People need to have a purpose,” she says.  

After decades of serving as a teacher, vice principal, principal and assistant superintendent, Kathryn was ready for a new chapter, and volunteering at the La Crete Community Health Centre just down the street from her home felt like a natural next step. Health care had always been close to her heart. She grew up in a family of nurses and supported her sister through cancer treatments in Edmonton. Living in northern Alberta, she had also seen firsthand how vital local health services are for rural communities.  

“I wanted something that would make me feel like I was making a difference.”  
 
Kathryn approached the recreation therapist for continuing care services at the health centre to ask about volunteering and began looking for ways she could help.  

Today, she volunteers primarily as a reader, spending time each week with residents gathered in the recreation space. With her background as an English teacher, she thought reading would be a good place to start.  

“When I asked what I could do, I just looked for something I would be comfortable doing,” she says. “Arts and crafts aren’t my thing. Reading is.”  

Kathryns says that when she reads, sometimes residents chat, sometimes they nap, sometimes they simply listen quietly under their blankets and sometimes something sparks.  

She remembers an afternoon when a resident began yawning during the reading session. She teased him about starting a chain reaction of yawns, and he burst into laughter. In the weeks that followed, the joke between them continued. Later, when staff invited the resident to attend reading time, he called Kathryn his friend.

Kathryn does not describe those moments as extraordinary, just meaningful. In long-term care, presence matters, especially for residents who may not have regular visitors, she says.  

“Sometimes it’s as simple as sitting beside someone,” she says. “There’s always a need.”  

Like many sites across the province, La Crete Community Health Centre saw volunteer numbers decline during COVID-19. Some programs have not fully recovered. The need, however, has not changed.  

Kathryn has seen the impact of volunteers elsewhere as well. In Nova Scotia, she watched how recreational programming and volunteers helped bring some joy into her uncle’s life after he moved into care.  

“That’s what recreation departments and volunteers do,” she says. “They help people come back to life.”  

What keeps her returning week after week is both personal commitment and those moments when she makes a clear connection, Kathryn says.  

“It’s loyalty and dedication — that’s just part of my character. But it’s also those little moments when you know you’re making a difference. When that happens, you think, ’Yes. This is where I should be.’”  

Kathryn’s advice to anyone considering volunteering is simple: don’t overthink it.  

“Don’t worry about whether you have the right gifts,” she says. “Just go and find out what you can do. It might be something small. It might take you out of your comfort zone. But it will matter.”