Baycrest

The two have been life partners for 64 years and a volunteer team for 35 and plan to continue as long as they can. "If you stop, you'll stop," says Adrienne, 83. "We feel fortunate at this stage of our lives to still be able to give back." Volunteer team Barbara and Marshall Alexander, aged 85 and 88 respectively, also intend to continue as long as they can. Volunteering together for 23 years has strengthened their 67-year bond and while helping others, they also helped themselves. Spending two mornings a week with clients in the therapeutic pool kept them physically and mentally fit, as well as emotionally gratified and thankful. "If you don't give, you don't get back," says Barbara. Although the hospital pool has now closed, this dynamic duo is always among the first group of volunteers that the Baycrest Foundation calls to help out at every fundraising event. "If they need us, we're there," says Barbara. "No job is too small." Staying physically and mentally active is an essential prescription for Evelyn Burns-Weinrib, who credits her fitness routine in the Baycrest gym, a healthy diet and socialization through volunteerism for her well- being at age 84. "People need to be busy," she says. "Medicine is more than pills, it's about being active and involved." Obliged to retire from teaching at 65, Burns- Weinrib chose to volunteer at Baycrest because it's in her genes. As a child in the early 1940s, she remembers visiting her grand-mother, Brendel Frimer, who kept two "pushkas" (charity boxes) on her windowsill: one for Israel and one for a new Jewish Home for the Aged. "Neither existed yet, but my grandmother believed in both," she explains. "She told me, 'No more Yiddish. I want to speak English so I can be on the board of directors of the new home.' I'm proud to say that she became secretary of the board in 1954." Burns-Weinrib carried on her grandmother's volunteerism and is a generous Baycrest donor. When she isn't at the WA Café six mornings a week or helping in Palliative Care, she is busy giving lectures to seniors on thriving in the golden years or speaking to staff and students about her own mental health struggles and the help she received at Baycrest. "I want to speak as often as possible. That's what I live for. It's my life." Giving people the opportunity to use their experiences, knowledge and skills is fundamental to attracting and retaining volunteers, according to Syrelle Bernstein, who retired in 2016 as director of Volunteer Services after 21 years. "Recent retirees want to use their skills and we have to provide the volunteer opportunities to engage them," she says. She cites the BRAVO (Baycrest Research About Volunteering among Older Adults) project as a perfect example of this. A collaboration between Research and Volunteer Services, the project is exploring the physical, cognitive and psychosocial benefits of volunteering. Retired professionals were involved in developing and running the study. "It attracted about 350 people of whom 230 volunteered, and 103 have stayed on. It created a whole new core of volunteer opportunities which will continue to grow," she adds. A strong and unique Youth Volunteer Program is also helping to bring energetic, young people to Baycrest to enrich the client experience, she says. "It is helping Baycrest build a strong volunteer base for the future." * Lou Stillman gave this interview just four days before he unexpectedly passed away on July 21, 2017. He will be greatly missed. 7 Barbara and Marshall Alexander Evelyn Burns-Weinrib (l-r) Syrelle Bernstein and Tobie Bekhor Youth volunteers bring vitality to Baycrest

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