“My first week, I didn’t think it was such a big deal but, after a while, I realized how much it meant to people just to have someone stop and talk for a minute.”

Barbara Doumouras became a Trillium volunteer as a Grade 10 student.

Five years later, she’s still distributing water and friendly visits every Saturday afternoon. She’s also starting her third year at the University of Toronto with a double major in biology and pharmacology. She plans to study medicine.

“When I became a volunteer, I began to realize how important health is to people.  When you’re not healthy, you don’t have anything.  Volunteering helped me decide to become a doctor.”

The rewards of being a volunteer have kept Barbara committed even with her busy study schedule.

“I meet such great people -  patients, staff and other volunteers,” she says. Not least, there’s that sense of helping people.

“As a volunteer I’m not giving medical care, but I do help the patients in some way. I’ve gotten so used to being at Trillium every week that, when I can’t make it because I have an exam, the week feels empty.”