A young boy races his brother in a makeshift go-cart while wearing watermelon helmets and goggles. He is excited as he is winning the race.

By Medicine Hat & District Health Foundation

Be the Difference You Wish To See

Dec 23, 2019 | 12:41 PM

Since her early years, volunteerism was a way of life for Margaret Hobson. As a teenager living in Yorkshire, she spent her Sundays at the hospital with her father helping with daily tasks.

“That kept up until I reached a certain age and had to get a real job,” she explains, with false emphasis on the word ‘real.’ To her, volunteering is a real job that provides value to life and community.

After immigrating to Canada with her husband and two young children in 1967, Margaret worked until retirement in 1991. Shortly after retirement she was talking to her neighbour who was working at the Auxiliary Association Gift Shop in the Medicine Hat Hospital and Margaret found a post-retirement purpose; making a difference in her community. Since volunteerism had always been a part of Margaret’s life, it made sense for her to continue on with her volunteering roots. During this time the Gift Shop already had a full roster of volunteers, therefore Margaret was happy to help Alzheimer’s patients in the hospital until a Gift Shop position opened up.

“I spent my whole working life in retail so the Gift Shop was a really great place for me to be,” recalls Margaret. Before she knew it, she was the Auxiliary Association Gift Shop Chairperson and was responsible for ordering and merchandising. From there, she spent six years as the Auxiliary Association President and a total of twenty-five years with the charitable group. In total, Margaret estimates that she and her group of dedicated volunteers donated over one million dollars to the Medicine Hat Health Foundation through the Gift Shop, raffles, fundraising teas, and other initiatives. Those funds purchased several beds for the Intensive Care Unit, as well as needed support for NICU and other items identified by the Health Foundation as ‘Greatest Needs.’

Over time, the Auxiliary Association member numbers declined and the fundraising activity became harder to undertake for the ambitious but aging group. The Gift Shop – which continues to be an important revenue generator – was handed over to the Health Foundation in 2010. The Auxiliary Association – with only five total members ranging in age between 70 and 92 – disbanded in November 2015.

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However, even with the disbandment, Margaret and her group have not slowed down. Two of them volunteer one shift per week at the Gift Shop. For Margaret, volunteering is a way to stay young, active and helpful: “I enjoy people. Regular customers and long-term patients visit often and seem to appreciate being asked how they’re doing.” Giving so much time to the Health Foundation was something she was happy to do, and Margaret encourages others to do the same and be the difference they wish to see in their community.