Community Volunteer

SPONSORED BY SUNWEST RV CENTRE

Dave Ward didn’t just take up volunteering when he retired. He’s been hard at it for a number of years, doing everything from cycling in the Boomer’s Legacy ride to delivering hospital beds for Comox Valley Hospice Society clients.
It’s been his work with hospice, though, that has earned him the top honour in the Local Hero volunteer award category. As the “bed guy” for the Comox Valley, Dave has served 1,200 local families and completed about 2,400 delivery and pickup trips to provide hospital beds for clients who wish to die at home.
Dave is cited as being “compassionate, gentle, and respectful” to the clients. He believes it’s of extreme importance to have a bed delivered as soon as it is needed, and removed as quickly as possible for the grieving family.
There’s more to providing a bed service, though, than just the hard physical labour of loading and unloading. Dave must be in constant contact with caregivers and grieving family members, along with communicating with all the health agencies involved.
He goes “above and beyond” in providing valuable feedback and helpful observations to home care nursing staff, fully playing the “team member” role.
“I do what I do for the Valley because I believe we are all here to help one another,” says Dave.  “I can make a difference in the lives of palliative clients and their family members at a very challenging and intimate moment. And it’s not a one-way gift – I am constantly learning from the strength and the courage of the people I meet.
“It is a precious gift to be reminded of how our lives are not a certainty … that each minute is a grand treasure to be spent wisely. That’s not something I used to be in touch with very much, but volunteering with the Comox Valley Hospice Society has been a life-changing experience.”