volunteer spotlight

So much of what we do involves volunteers - in fact, we couldn't do it without them. We have some very special volunteers who care a great deal about the IWK. They help us with our Telethon, our Radiothons, mail outs and much more!

Volunteer at the IWK Foundation.
 

Jim Nickle

“Working with heroes.” That’s the phrase volunteer Jim Nickle uses when describing why he volunteers at the IWK Foundation and the IWK Health Centre. For him, just about everyone he encounters through his work at the IWK falls under that category- particularly the young patients receiving care and treatment.

Jim’s passion for working with children at a pediatric facility started when he retired at the age of 54 in Ontario. His first volunteer position was with SickKids Hospital and he said from the moment he started there he was hooked. Five years ago he came to check-out Halifax while his daughter was here studying at university. While here he toured the IWK and it was that visit that was a catalyst for him and his wife Edith to make the move across the country.  

For 25 hours a week Jim devotes his time to helping the patients and their families who visit the IWK.   “I just love it,” Jim says about why he rises at an early hour to meet patient families who arrive in the early mornings at the IWK.  He notes how inspired and moved he is by the courageous and resilient nature of the children and families he encounters.  

As a volunteer, Jim supports the IWK in many ways. Through the Foundation he assists with internal office administrative duties, he takes pledges during the IWK Radiothon, and he acts as an ambassador  for donors during the IWK Telethon. At the Health Centre his presence is a welcoming sight to families – he helps patient families who need to navigate their way to a clinic appointment, the OR, or in some cases, parents trying to locate their critically ill child who has been transferred from a partner facility. The ways that Jim gives back to support children and women who rely on the IWK are endless. His acts of kindness are priceless.  

Thank you Jim for being an outstanding and committed volunteer. Your dedication is inspiring and is warmly appreciated by all of those who visit or work at the IWK.  

“Jim Nickle is truly an inspiration to all of us who have the pleasure of working with him. It is impossible not to hear his convictions for volunteering with the IWK and not be moved to tears. He inspires giving at its finest form – by lending a helping hand. “ – Penny Hannam, Events & Communications Officer