It’s not every day you meet someone who you truly think will one day change the world. Yet, at Shaftesbury Park, an All Seniors Care Retirement Residence in Winnipeg, there is one such young man, a volunteer, who has many believing he just might.
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| Thank you Josef form everyone at ASC |
His name is Josef Bader. To see the light in his eyes and feel the energy of his words when he talks about his life and, specifically, his volunteer work, you can’t help but feel that this is a person who embodies the term ‘inspiration’.
Josef grew up in Recife, Brazil. At 16 years, with only beginner English under his belt, he moved to Winnipeg on his own to attend an International School. Two years later, his parents and two brothers made the move to join him. Along with the educational reasons, the Bader family chose Winnipeg because of its strong Jewish community. At a time when they saw the Jewish population and influence decreasing in Recife, their faith, and desire to keep strong ties to their heritage, made the choice to move a relatively easy one.
It was, in fact, Josef’s religious traditions, plus a memory of a conversation with friends, that prompted him to cold call Shaftesbury Park to find out about volunteer opportunities. “I remember it was the Christmas holidays, and because my family and I don’t celebrate Christmas, I was looking for something to do other than just hang around home, watching TV.” Josef remembered some of his high school friends talking about how their grandparents live at Shaftesbury Park. So, he picked up the phone and called, hoping that maybe he could help out for a few hours one day. Little did he know that over the two week holiday he would be at Shaftesbury Park almost every day. And, that he would have many profound experiences that would solidify his desire to help people, particularly seniors. In fact, it was through his work at Shaftesbury that Josef became certain that medicine was the future he wanted to pursue. He is currently finishing up his second year of pre-med with plans of becoming a doctor. “The residents here tease me that I’m going to be their visiting physician one day,” he laughs. “But I hope it’s true!”
Because of his selfless spirit and unwavering commitment, Josef is the recipient of an ASC 2012 Outstanding Volunteer Award. As well, because of his enrolment in post-secondary education, he is a recipient of an ASC Community Service Scholarship. The purpose of the Scholarship is to provide financial help to talented and dedicated student volunteers who, through thoughtful balancing of time available while pursuing academic studies, contribute their talents and skills to an All Seniors Care Living Centres Community.
In Josef’s case, to complete the scholarship criteria, he participated in a wide variety of volunteer activities; everything from helping tenants in the dining room, to teaching a group of seniors how to use Skype, to leading Jewish prayer services. “Every day is different and that’s what I love about it. And everyone is so friendly and they always smile and say thank you. I can tell that the time I’m putting in is being appreciated.”
His commitment to helping the community doesn’t stop there. Josef has also received numerous awards and honours including The Province of Manitoba’s Youth Leadership Scholarship in 2010 and was the Student Ambassador of the International Student Program from 2008-2010. He truly is a trail-blazer. One we are sure to hear much more about in years to come.
On behalf of All Seniors Care and the staff and tenants of Shaftesbury Park, congratulations to Josef, and thank you for caring.
