Burnaby Hospice Society is an organization that provides services to individuals and families going through the end-of-life journey. They established a thrift store in 2006 as another means of raising funds to support hospice palliative care. The organization relies on volunteers to carry out various roles like assisting customers at the thrift store, cashiering, organizing, assisting with palliative care, etc.

Kara Davies, the Palliative Volunteer Coordinator for Burnaby Hospice Society was asked about the impact of the volunteers on the organization and she replied:

“They’re vital to our operations. We could not run the place without them. We’re probably 95% run by volunteers.”

This organization is primarily run by volunteers and they provide special services that the society really needs.

The pandemic has caused issues for many individuals and businesses.Kara Davies was asked if COVID-19 has made it harder to find volunteers and she responded:

“Yes and no… I think the younger volunteers, they’re still very eager to volunteer. Some need it for their school requirements. Some of the older volunteers, maybe they’re a little bit hesitant to volunteer because of COVID but we’re hopeful that with COVID subsiding that they’re coming back out to volunteer again.”

There are a lot of negative things to come from the pandemic but it is reassuring to know that organizations like Burnaby Hospice Society have not been disheartened by the negativity and are still eager to do their best to serve their community.