Volunteer Earl Westman is a familiar face at the Birchmount campus.

Earl Westman likes to refer to himself with a bit of self-deprecating humour, but he’s not fooling anyone who knows him. 

“I’m a jack of all trades, master of none,” he jokes. Though with a volunteer resume as impressive as his, most believe he’s master of many.

“I’ve done many jobs here,” says the 88-year-old, who has been volunteering at the Birchmount campus of The Scarborough Hospital for the past 24 years. “It all started in the mailroom where I would sort the mail three times daily. It’s how I got to know the staff so well so quickly.” 

From there he went on to a job that all staff, patients and visitors who walk the halls appreciate every day.

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Barb Mohamed helps a patient play bingo during her regular volunteer shift.

As an RPN for 25 years and a volunteer for four, Barb Mohamed considers CP1 at the General campus a second home. “After I retired, I really wanted to do something,” says Barb. “I decided to come back and volunteer on the old unit and bring back some of the entertainment the patients here enjoyed years ago.”

Barb and Sally Malek, another volunteer on the unit, coordinate Bingo and trivia games for the patients every Thursday. 

“Sally is the baker—she bakes the cakes and we bring in cookies and tea for the patients to enjoy,” says Barb.

Interacting and helping the patients is what Barb enjoys—the part of her career she loved most. 

“Some of the stroke patients are here for quite a long time before they go off to rehab or elsewhere. Sometimes they need that opportunity to get out of their rooms and socialize,” she says.

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Ruth Joyce, Volunteer

Former teacher finds new career as a volunteer

If you have been working for most of your life, you are probably dreaming about retirement. But what will you do when you actually get there? If you are anything like TSH volunteer Ruth Joyce, chances are you’ll work some more. 

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John McLaughlin, Volunteer

Friendly greeter no stranger to volunteering

It started out in 2003 as ‘temporary’ for John McLaughlin—volunteering in the Emergency department at The Scarborough Hospital, General campus. Today, John is a regular fixture on Sunday evenings, a Patient Greeter pointing patients and visitors in the right direction as they enter the front doors of TSH’s Emergency department.

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