- Hi neighbors.

Welcome to Look for the Helpers, portraits, and Community Service.

I'm Cynthia Tyler.

In every community, there are those who step up to lend a helping hand, giving their time and putting in the energy to make life better for those around them.

They don't do it for the recognition, but because they care.

And it's what keeps our communities growing strong.

Tonight we sit down with two of our neighbors making a difference in the place that we call home.

Bill Roberts currently serves as A-W-P-B-S board member, but his experiences have taken him high and low all around the world to help others.

And Michelle Tinsley decided that her love of the holidays would inspire her to step up to the helm of our local Toys for Tots organization.

Please join me as we celebrate our local volunteers.

I am here now with Bill Roberts.

He is the municipal counselor for Prince Edward County Ontario.

Bill, thank you so much for being with us today.

- Oh, Cindy, it's great.

I love being here.

- Wonderful.

Now, bill, in addition to serving on our WPBS Board, you wear many, many, many, many hats with your volunteerism.

Where would you like to start us on your journey?

- Yes.

Well, my hat closet seems a little jammed, but, but all of it's very, very enjoyable and it's, it's inspired by probably three different sources.

One is I'm not a member of Rotary, but I really like the Rotary model of service before self.

And I'm also a fan of Jack London, the writer.

Yeah.

And Jack London wrote a piece that sort of speaks to, he'd, he'd rather burn out than rust out.

And I, I kind of like that approach too.

- Yeah.

- And then you mentioned PBS, so Fred Rogers, Fred Rogers, Mr.

Rogers Neighborhood, which was actually begun by the CBC in Canada before it came to PBS - In the us.

That's right.

That's a, yeah.

- And you know, Fred Rogers and Fred Rogers neighborhood was all about friendship, neighborhood community.

So those are the inspirations.

But I think for me, my volunteering and charitable work falls into maybe four, three or four categories.

One, Cindy is where I have the skillset, and I see there's a need.

Another is obviously personal interest, things that I'm really interested in.

Another are surprises and events.

Not all of them happy, and we can talk about one that wasn't all that happy.

And then the last category of, of public service and volunteering is stuff, as you mentioned, I am a municipal counselor in Prince Edward County, but what I think are important extensions of my work as an elected local politician, which is community service in areas of need.

So that's sort of what motivates me.

- And isn't that enough?

I mean, what a wonderful complex structure to build such a fantastic career of giving.

Now, you know what, we're gonna go right for it.

You said that there was a very unfortunate incident that happened and it's, it's, it was quite shocking to learn about because it, it's proof that helping others doesn't always come from a positive place.

So tell us about that.

- Well, that falls under the surprises and events category, - And it was a surprise.

Oh my, - Yes.

I, I, I like the outdoors.

So I'm often out, you know, skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, that kind of thing.

And one February winter, three years ago now, I was pretty confident I'd check the ice.

I always make sure there's a four inch layer of ice.

And I was on my way back from about a two kilometer hike, so about a mile and a bit in, in your terms.

And I fell through the ice.

And what had happened was some ice fisherman had augered the ice and the snow had covered the hole.

And I went through and I was very lucky to have my ski poles with me.

And after I'd gone down a few times, I managed to get a good purchase with one of the points of my ski pole.

Anyway, the, I'm here.

So I - Survived.

Yes.

Wow.

- So as a result of that, I, I worked with a number of community members and created something called the Quinte Region Drowning Prevention Coalition, which involves emergency services, doctors conservation, fire departments, lifeguards, and, and our public libraries to create awareness about drowning prevention.

And so I thought that was important.

And since we're on surprises, one Christmas, I think it must have been 12 or so years ago, I was asked by one of the service clubs, Kiwanis Club, I believe it was, or kinsman, I forget which one that I would vol that I was volunteering with, if I would drive food, Christmas food to homeless shelters.

And of course I vol.

I said, yes.

I mean, I, I enjoy working with those service groups.

And one of them that I drove turkeys and other things, frozen turkeys and other things too, was a place called Kate's Rest.

And it was a homeless shelter.

That was unique to my experience because it was not out transitional housing for the unhoused.

It was, you can stay here as long as you want, and in staying here, if you haven't finished your high school or if you don't have a driver's license, or if you haven't seen a dentist in five years, or if you need to catch up on your, you know, vaccines, or if you haven't paid your income tax, maybe you've got some income tax returning to you, we will help you do that.

- Wow.

- In addition to which they were about creating hydroponics to creating a small business, being entrepreneurial so that the unsheltered, the un homed could support themselves.

And I thought, Kate's rest, this is something I want to be involved with.

So those under the category of surprises and events, those are two.

Yes.

- What an incredible service there that where they, they serve all of the facets that to support unhoused people, that's, - And there's no pressure, but you've gotta leave.

You leave when, when you can, when - You're ready, when - You want to, and when those - Supports.

Absolutely amazing.

So again, so you're starting some surprises and some unhappy things and, and, and some, some happy surprises to start that service there.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg because you go from - One place, bad pun on the ice thing.

- Oh, I know, right.

But it's always a good time.

So you start at the very, you start from health and safety to individual support, and then you go all the way up to public health and municipal service.

Now, what are some of those, what are some challenges?

Because do you find it difficult to, to keep all of your energy moving for all of these different groups?

How do you stay so charged and focused to give out your, your help?

- Well, first of all, it helps to have family support.

So that's important.

But I think just bringing a positive attitude, bringing, see, seeing in crises if there's, all these things are in crisis to some extent, seeing in crisis opportunity.

So one that we haven't mentioned is the closing of rural schools.

So I live in a rural community, and the larger regional school board decided they were gonna close our rural school, and I didn't think that was a good idea.

So I sat in my sunroom with newcomers to Prince Edward County to old time loyalist families in Prince Edward County School, teachers, developers, local politicians, and said, we gotta save this school.

And I think one of the things we can save this school through is the other crisis of food insecurity.

And so what we did is we came up with a business plan for creating a county food hub in one wing of the school.

And that wing of the school would pay to rent that wing of the school to the school board, and it would provide food for those are who are food insecure, but also integrate with that public school curriculum.

And we are now in the seventh year of, of realizing that.

So - Wow.

- Looking for, yes, there's crises, but looking for the opportunities in those crises - And solutions that benefit all.

What a fantastic solution.

That's absolutely amazing.

So again, moving through all of those things, those are some challenges that you find.

What's a story that pops out at you that you hold in your memory that, so if you say you're having a rundown day and you just can't bring yourself to, to get up and go, what's a, what's a special story that you always turn to, to inspire you?

- Well, I've been involved in volunteering locally across a broad spectrum of things.

But one that involved a lot of struggle, physical and mental struggle is I had done some work in Africa and, and one of the things I realized was that healthcare for women and girls was, maybe there's a word that's something more serious than crisis, whatever that word is.

That was the situation and Care Canada.

And I started talking Care Canada's a non-governmental organization in Canada, supports international development.

And then through volunteers, like, like me, and I said, why don't we climb?

Why don't we have me climb Mount Kilimanjaro and we'll do it as a fundraiser and we will fund a local school in, in Tanzania, and we will fund a local women's and girls clinic.

- Whoa.

- Of course, it couldn't be done.

Right.

Begins with No, too often it does.

And I said, well, let's turn no into a yes.

So I'll volunteer me and I'll do it.

So that involved a lot of process.

So I can only imagine any kind of process.

But it also involved climbing the darn mountain.

- Wow.

- And I did, and we raised enough money to do the school, do the clinic.

I was reward.

I got one reward.

And that was that the Messiah Women of a Certain Village, because they had this co-op that we were also funding and, and helping out.

They established a piggery run by the women, and I got a pig named after me.

That was my reward.

- That is a fantastic reward.

- That's right.

- Oh, wow.

- Yes.

So I - Felt incredible.

- I felt well reimbursed for that.

- Well, absolutely.

I mean, my goodness.

Spanning an international system of, of supports.

That's absolutely a fantastic story.

I am, I'm ab I'm gobsmacked going all the way from a rural, rural school.

I mean, up to Kilimanjaro.

What a span.

So now what would you say to an individual who is trying to figure out how to volunteer, what to volunteer, what do you say to them to inspire them?

- Take a look at your skillset and look at what you can bring to the party.

For example, we wanted to create a local community radio station.

And so it was about putting together the skillset for, from diverse members of our community and putting all that together and realizing that.

And so I think that's one thing.

You know, assessing your skillset, defining your personal interests.

You know, I, I have a, my dad served in World War ii.

He was a decorated officer in the Air Force.

CFB.

Trenton is their largest air base in Canada.

I volunteered with two Air Movement Squadron around leadership, morale, recruitment.

But that was a passion.

So skillset, passion, personal interest, and then being open to what has been meaningful in your life.

We talked about that - For me.

Yes, that's right.

- And, and, and Cindy, maybe you have this, you know, here where you work.

You know, there's something that really, really, you know, feel is an offshoot of what you do here as your work and transport that into your, you know, private or personal life.

I think those are the things that, that's the, the ingredients of the magic sauce - That is a, and it's a tasty sauce that is absolutely outstanding.

Now, one last question before we wrap this up.

How is all of this work?

How is that enriched and made your life better?

- How has it enriched my life?

It, it's not about being an ingredient.

It's about what I am enabling out there.

You know, what I feel that I'm enabling out there.

And that's an enormous amount of personal satisfaction.

It's almost selfish in a way because you feel good about doing it.

- And isn't that a good enough reason to do anything in this world that needs all the help it can get right now?

- It certainly does.

- Fantastic.

Bill, thank you so, so much for being with us today.

It was so exciting to talk to you and learn all this, and we wish you all the success in your future endeavors.

- Same to you.

Cindy.

- With me now, I have Michelle Tinsley, who is the coordinator for Toys for Tots.

I know we just got through with our Christmas season, but everybody loves Christmas and this organization is so, so popular.

Everybody sees them everywhere.

Tell us about Toys Forts.

- Well, first of all, it's important to note that it's Jefferson County Toys for Tots.

We do belong to the national organization, but anything that's donated monetarily or toys stays local.

- Fantastic.

- That stays in Jefferson County.

- Okay.

- And it's basically an organization that if you're feeling like you can't find the funds to do Christmas this year, you've got a family and you're, you know, laden with other things.

We're here - Yes.

- No questions asked.

- And you know, it, it's such a great feeling.

I imagine because it's Christmas, it's children.

Yeah.

I mean, it's just the sweetest thing that you could ever imagine to serve.

What inspired you to, to start volunteering for Toys For Tots?

- I have had two wonderful parents that volunteered and did a lot of, helped out a lot of people.

- Oh yes.

You're, you're 90-year-old mother.

Yeah.

So she, I guess, is quite involved in volunteering.

So - Yeah, she'll be 91 this month and she's volunteering all over.

She's - Wow.

Four or - Five places - She has.

So age is just a number.

That's right.

Fantastic.

- And it's kept her young.

- Well - That's just, it kept her - Doing the whole thing.

Yes.

So now how long have you been with Toys for Tots?

- This is my, was my seventh year - This year.

Seventh finished seventh Now.

That has to just be the most rewarding experience ever.

What, what do you find you enjoy the most about it?

- I like my, the open shopping, which is the last week before Christmas is the best.

You get to see parents come in and find exactly what they're looking for.

And a lot of tears, a lot of people telling me they wouldn't been able to have Christmas this year.

People telling me they haven't had to use this in the past and they're grateful for it.

And we're, we're grateful to be there so that, you know, no kid should have to go without Christmas.

- Absolutely.

And I think that's such a, it's such a unique way to volunteer because this is pure joy.

- Yeah.

- This isn't about need or survival or it's just about happiness - And joy.

- And that just has to be just the most exciting thing ever.

- It's, - So now you must always be looking for volunteers.

Can you tell us a little bit about - What a volunteer could do in your organization?

Yep.

We have people that come in to help me sort toys as they come in.

We put 'em onto different tables for age ranges.

And we have people that go out and collect toys from our donation sites.

We have over a hundred places in the county that collect for - Us.

Wow.

- So people take on a few stores and when that store says their box is ready, they go pick it up and bring it in for us.

And then the sorters get to their job.

- Okay.

- And then the people that help out with the open shopping, they help the, the parents find what they're looking for.

- Okay.

And with that open shopping, you were, we were talking earlier and you were speaking about there's one of the most difficult groups of, of children to shop for teenagers.

- Yes.

- So obviously those, those trends change from year to year to year, but - Right.

- So if you've got a teenager and you like to shop and you know what to shop for, this would be a perfect opportunity for them to come in and do that.

- We built up a pretty good list of, of kind of staples that you get for a teenager.

- Okay.

- But they don't get donated nearly as often as the fun toys.

The three to 10 year olds are the, the things that get donated.

- Well, I mean, you see some of those toys and I'm like, I wanna play with that.

Yeah.

That looks amazing.

I think I, I would probably get two distracted in those because I'd be like, I wanna play with this one.

Oh, that is so amazing.

So now, has volunteering always been something that you've wanted to do in your life?

And now I understand that you, you owned a restaurant for a number of years.

Right.

And then as that phase of your life - Ended, you decided Right.

It, you know, we were busy with family.

Our own kids volunteered as school functions, but didn't really have a lot of time for it.

But, you know, kids were out of the house, jobs were winding down, decided it was time to to give back.

- Yeah.

And in giving back in these seven years, can you talk about a moment or a story that really, really stands out in your mind as really, really special?

- I got a few, actually.

No worries.

I'm thinking of, you know, a dad that called and said, car broke down.

Rent is due.

I don't know how I'm going to get Christmas.

I think I'm gonna have to take my kids' toys back.

I don't know how to pay for all of, you know.

And I said, if you can take the toys back, do what you need to do.

I said, we've got Christmas covered, you know, - And - That'll help you out.

And I had one mom, someone got ahold of me on her behalf a day and a half before Christmas.

Been a domestic situation.

Long story short, the the boyfriend had taken the toys back.

- Oh.

- And she was out of a home and she had no presents for her kids.

And we were able to put Christmas together for her in a few hours so that her voice had something.

So you - Really were like the elves just up to the last minute.

How exciting.

What a wonderful, refreshing way to, to think about giving.

Yeah.

And now, okay, so that was Christmas Eve at the last minute.

Do your volunteers need to work Christmas Eve?

No.

What kind of time commitment are we looking at?

- We usually, I have like a startup meeting in September.

That's all that's required of 'em.

Then they kind of sign up if they're gonna be a donation site, toy picker, upper.

And then other than that, I start, I just get names and tell them where they can volunteer.

October, we're contacting previous sites asking, you know, are you, would you like to do it again?

And set them up with a, a volunteer so they know who they can reach November's when it starts getting busy.

Oh yes.

Boys start coming in.

The lists start coming in for us to bag toys for various food pantries or churches or schools.

So they're busy with all of that November and December.

And we are usually done around the 20th.

Last year I held one more day for people that for whatever reason, hadn't signed up and now needed something and they came in and kind of picked from what was left.

But I'm usually done somewhere around the 20th, 22nd at the latest.

- Okay.

- Unless there's an emergency.

- Right.

And now the volunteers work in shifts.

Correct.

- Yes.

Yeah.

If I am, we've gotten a big shipment in, because we do order toys sometimes.

And our foundation, the National Toys for Task Foundation sends us two big shipments.

And when those come in, I need a lot of volunteers just to help unpack all the boxes.

It's, you know, 20, $25,000 of the toys.

- Wow.

- And then we have a couple of great things.

I have a school with the Indian River District that they, the kids do a fundraiser and they bring in $5,000 worth of toys.

And that's a lot of toys to sort that - Is.

- So they, they do all of that - For us.

So it can be anything from a couple of hours of help to like full eight hour shifts.

- Yeah.

Like - There's a lot of work to be done, but - You don't have to chew off the whole bit.

No.

And I put in an EI put out an email to everybody, you know, I've got 25, 30 people and maybe eight can make it, but that might be all I need that day.

- Yeah.

- And it's, and nobody's has to commit to, oh, I have to be there every time she needs something.

I just put it out there, say who can make it?

And they, they let me know.

- Okay.

What are some of the challenges - That you faced in this organization?

Money.

Last year, money was a big thing.

Mm.

We're a little more financially set this year, but that can be a, a big challenge 'cause you do wanna buy the things that the kids are asking for.

So you, you, you need to supplement it.

And you, we do eight zero to 18.

I know some of the other organizations that are Toys for Tots maybe cut it off at 13 'cause they just don't have the funds.

So far we've been very lucky to do that though.

Oh, fantastic.

Yeah.

Any monetary donations are always welcome, - Monetary.

And I would imagine that it's not just finances to buy the toys, but did you need, do you need resources to support the actual work of the organization?

Like printing or all of that's provided?

- No, all Staples, lots of places have donated.

Oh.

I come in and say I need trash bags.

'cause that's what we bag the toys up when they send me a list of, from an organization.

Home Depot and Lowe's have been very gracious about donating bags.

I need printing or something done.

Staples is good about that.

It's been the, the place where we have our, our site is the former YMCA daycare.

- Oh.

- Neighbors of Watertown has donated that the last couple of years.

- Wow.

- Jake Johnson gave me a place for a couple of years.

- It's - Okay.

- So any of any of that is covered.

- It's such, once again, the North country standing up for its neighbors.

Yes.

It's what a very deep sense of pride in serving each other and helping each other out.

Yes.

That's - Awesome.

Very, very gracious.

Yeah.

- That's fantastic.

So what would you say to somebody to inspire them to volunteer?

- Give us a call or give the organization you're thinking about a call and give it a try.

You don't know there's, with volunteering, it's a commitment, but you can try it out first to see if, if, if it's what you were looking for and you know, just - Go in lightly and give it a try.

And who couldn't, who would be unhappy to volunteer for Christmas?

Right.

I mean, it's such an enriching sort of a thing.

And I imagine that it's quite honestly, again, we talked about how it just being pure joy.

So you must carry that spirit all year round.

- Oh sure.

I mean, of - Course.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

And so are there any other volunteering aspects that you do?

Or is Toys for Tots kind of your major focus?

- That's my major - Thing.

So, and you know what, there's nothing wrong with that because sometimes people get such a ch they're like, oh, I, I have to do too much.

Or there's not enough.

Or they, they get so overwhelmed with how much that they can or cannot do.

- But - This is proof that if you have one passion and you stick to it and you can truly make a difference.

- Yes.

- That's absolutely phenomenal.

And now, I know we just talked about memories that you have of this.

Are you ever there when the kids actually get the presents?

Like, like, like say like a party or something like - That?

No, no, no.

We, we strongly encourage parents not to come bring the kids in with 'em.

Oh, you won't be surprise Christmas morning.

Absolutely.

But no, I haven't, haven't been with the kids to get 'em.

Okay, - Fantastic.

Where can they learn more about Toys for Tots and how to help Toys for Tots of Jefferson County?

- If you go on our website and I don't know the name of it right now.

- That's okay.

- I'd, I'd have to look it up on my phone.

- Okay.

So they just Googled so they, if they could go online and Google Toys for Tots for Jefferson County.

- Yes.

- And they would be able to find you.

I'm sure you have a Facebook page as well.

- Yes, we do.

- Yeah.

Okay.

Fantastic.

Thank you so much for being with us today, Michelle.

We really appreciate learning about your endeavors and Toys for Tots and we wish you all the success next Christmas.

Alright, well thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Thanks for joining us today.

It's a reminder that bears repeating.

No one achieves anything alone.

The world needs a helping hand.

The world needs, you go out and make a difference.