News
Celebrating Maria Bilyk
Date: 2020-12-07
Celebrating Maria Bilyk
With 75 years (and counting!), this volunteer lives our values
Reaching 75 years of volunteering with an organization is an exceptional accomplishment, and as you’ll soon learn, Maria Bilyk is an exceptional person. Since 1945, Maria has volunteered with St. Joseph’s Care Group (SJCG) in a variety of roles, putting her leadership, compassion and faith to work in countless ways. It’s truly fitting that Maria was selected as the recipient of the Sister Dolores Turgeon Volunteer Mission Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution, exceeding expectations and consistently demonstrating the values of Care, Compassion and Commitment in voluntary service to SJCG.
Maria’s association with SJCG started when she was 18 years old, after her younger sister Irene was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The complexities of living with diabetes were still relatively unknown at the time, as insulin had only been widely available as a life-saving therapy for about twenty years. The Sisters at St. Joseph’s Hospital helped Maria learn how to care for her sister and give insulin injections.
Seeing Maria and Irene’s eagerness to share their knowledge, coupled with interest from other patients and families to learn more about diabetes, the Sisters saw an opportunity for support through lived experience. Maria and Irene were recruited as volunteers to lead regular discussions about diabetes and ease families’ anxiety related to insulin injections. Maria tells us how the session would begin: “Irene would always ask ‘What would you like to talk about today?’ That would give participants the chance to tell us what was on their mind. Even today when I’m doing my hospice work, I use Irene’s words to start a conversation and it’s amazing what they want to talk about,” she says.
Maria’s commitment to volunteering has endured through raising four children, becoming a widow at age 38 and subsequently joining the workforce. A significant amount of her volunteer efforts over the years were with the Auxiliary to St. Joseph’s Care Group, both as a member and a part of the Executive. She has held the position of President twice, and represented St. Joseph’s Auxiliary at the Healthcare Auxiliaries Association of Ontario.
In the last few years, Maria has focused on volunteering with clients who don’t receive many visitors, as well as people in hospice. “Maria exemplifies SJCG’s values of care, compassion and commitment,” says Anna Grenier, Volunteer Services Coordinator. “She truly cares about the people she helps, and we are so pleased to recognize her extraordinary contribution with this award. She has made a difference for so many.”
“Volunteering has been my life,” says Maria simply. “It’s amazing, and helping people gives you a nice feeling. I have learned so much from the people I have met - you learn respect, and to be a good listener. The rewards are greater than the time you put in.”
If volunteering sounds like something you would be interested in, please call us.
Volunteer Services
(807) 768-4448
