Circle of Excellence honouree delivers joy with books Leisureworld Muskoka's Dianna Russell receives award   Monday April 26, 2010 -- Lisa Bailey Every Thursday for seven years, Dianna Russell has brought joy — along with books and magazines — to residents at Leisureworld Caregiving Muskoka. By the same token, residents delight her with their chats as she goes from room to room on two floors with a library cart of donated materials. Another happy time for Russell came April 21 when she received the Ontario Long Term Care Association’s (OLTCA) Circle of Excellence Award for her volunteer contributions to the member home. The presentation took place at the Gravenhurst home’s volunteer appreciation brunch, held to mark National Volunteer Week. Program manager Angela Coutts says Russell was highly recommended for the annual award by Muskoka’s residents and staff. “She’s very dedicated and always looking out for residents and their overall well-being,” Coutts says, adding the former nurse’s caring and compassionate ways are “true to heart.” In her 46-year career, Russell says she didn’t work with the elderly but she enjoys interacting with them. So when she semi-retired, she looked at volunteering at Muskoka which was nearby and familiar since she’d worked at the home many years previously. In search of a passion, Russell also tried painting, golf and tai chi. Only volunteering stuck. “I haven’t found any other passion I like as well as helping other people,” she says, adding she feels she gets “more out of (volunteering) than I give.” Russell’s weekly afternoon visits are anticipated by residents, whom she says are “so glad” and “so delighted” to see and talk with her as well as receive reading materials that she caters to their tastes as much as possible. She feels their appreciation. The gratitude of the home and OLTCA shocked Russell. She is honoured and thankful for the Circle of Excellence Award but says she doesn’t “do anymore than any other (volunteer) would.” Key to volunteering, she says, are a genuine interest in people and finding “something you’re interested in, otherwise it becomes a job.” She encourages anyone with even an inkling of curiosity about volunteering to talk to staff, who can arrange activities they like to do. At Leisureworld Muskoka, she says, staff members “go the extra mile to make me feel that I’m part of the team so to speak and I am offering an important service to the residents. “All of that goes towards making you feel that you’re doing something that’s worthwhile,” Russell says. If you have feedback on this article, please contact the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 25, or e-mail lisa(at)axiomnews.ca.