Halina Peltonen is another wonderful volunteer in the Sault who has quietly contributed immensely to the benefit of our community as well as the global community.
Were it not for a desperate warning by a young boy which allowed Halina’s grandmother to narrowly escape Poland before the brutally of the Nazi regime, Halina would not be residing in the Sault.
When Halina has finished her work as a bus driver for the First Student Bus Company she is actively involved in numerous volunteer opportunities.
She has participated in 2 global volunteer missions. One was with the Shoe Box program when she went to Nicaragua to assist in the distribution of the Shoe Box’s in that country. The other was to Kenya in Africa with a Woman’s Mission, which was focused on ameliorating the slum living conditions. While volunteering her time and effort to these 2 overseas programs she also paid for her travel and living expenses.
Locally Halina has been volunteering at Bethel Baptist Church. She lends a hand with Sunday school, church suppers, day care, kids clubs, and any other activity where help is needed.
She has been actively involved with the Horticultural society for many years, planting seeds annually. The flowers grown from seed are then distributed around the city for improving the city’s image. The canal greenhouse receives flowers each year from the society.
She assists the children in the Breaking Away program at Mount St. Joseph College in the planting and nurturing of the spring garden bed. She has also served the Art Council since 1992.
Whenever she encounters someone needing help, Halina takes the time to provide as much assistance as she can. Halina summarizes her volunteering time as an opportunity to be with a group who is trying to help others, as well as be out and meeting awesome people. She takes great pleasure with the successful completion of events and programs in which she has been involved.
Volunteers deserve an immense amount of credit for their contribution to society. Sometimes it’s not easy for volunteers to balance their commitment to volunteer programs with the demands of family and other daily activity.
The volunteers I meet are mostly all from the same generation. I wonder if the next generation will step forward to participate when the need arises.
