Cancer centre needs help

The B.C. Cancer Agency Centre for the North may have equipment, doctors and nurses in place but it's still lacking one key ingredient - volunteers.

So far nine people have stepped forward but BCCA regional volunteer services coordinator Jamie Kranrod is working to increase that number to 40 by the start of the summer.

Volunteers are there to give patients and their families some added attention and just help generally while the professionals go about their jobs.

"The volunteers are the people who are able to stop and spend the time to help someone find what they're looking for and really just give them that one-to-one personal touch, like offering them a coffee when they're sitting there having treatment," Kranrod said.

Two weeks ago Bev Fitzsimmons became the first volunteer to put in a shift - she runs the "comfort cart" that carries refreshments and snacks and generally helps patients, families and staff.

"We've been really well accepted, everybody's happy to have the volunteers," Fitzsimmons said. "The clients, they're happy even to see me come into the chemo units and the radiation units...it just puts a smile on your face, it makes you feel good."

Fitzsimmons, 61, retired a year ago from the administration department at Northern Health and was looking for a way to give back to the community and saw real value in the centre.

"This service has been so needed in the north and I think nearly everybody has been touched by cancer in some way or another," she said. "You either have a friend who's had it or a family member."

The commitment is a 3.5-hour shift per week, although more is welcome, and those who sign up can choose from five roles, ranging from greeting patients going into the chemo treatment room to providing support to office staff to collecting bottles and pop cans for recycling.

There is even a search on for people willing to bring in their pets to cheer up patients. They must complete the B.C. Pets and Friends visitation program or the St. John's Ambulance dog therapy program prior to volunteering.

More information can be found at www.bccancer.bc.ca. Click on Centre for the North under Regional Services and then volunteering under the left sidebar. Kranrod can be reached at 250-645-7300 ext. 687508 or at [email protected].