Every month CTV partners up with Volunteer Calgary to bring you stories about outstanding volunteers.
If you ever have the opportunity to chat with Ruth Bullivant, you'll have not doubt about the energy, and positive approach she has for life. Ruth has volunteered with Voice Print and Alberta Theatre Projects for many years, and has enriched the lives of others by doing so! Ruth is proud to say she will be 85 years old in May of 2012, and she plans on giving back to her community for many years to come. Ruth says in school she was known as a "jack-in-the-box", and you can feel that enthusiasm for life in her voice and the stories she tells.
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Name: Ruth Bullivant
Organization: Alberta Theatre Projects/Accessible Media Inc(formerly Voice Print)
Describe your first experience with volunteerism:
Ruth tells me her first experience dates back to when she was a school girl in England. She says she remembers during the war when she was part of the Land Army Corp. The school kids would go out and work on the farms since the men were gone fighting.
Once she immigrated to Canada Ruth volunteered with various organizations including doing church work. Ruth also recalls how years ago she helped with delivering food to families at Christmas. She remembers one time when she was leaving a home and a little boy popped his head around the door and said "thanks for the giving"… Ruth concludes, "isn't that what it's all about".
What was your reason/motivation for volunteering with ATP and Voice Print?
Ruth says when she was volunteering with ATP she got involved with musical theater. It was at this time someone suggested to her that they thought she had the right voice for reading for Voice Print. After she retired she looked into it and loves the fact that her voice can be the eyes for those with impaired vision.
How has volunteering impacted your life?
"It keeps me alive, it keeps me going" … Ruth says volunteering is also a social outlet and keeps her motivated as she lives on her own.
How would you say volunteering has impacted the lives of others?
I tell people about what I do and then they get involved. Some of my friends are now volunteering.
What do you enjoy most about volunteering?
Ruth says she likes making use of her time, and volunteering helps her do that.
What you like about Calgary?
Ruth tells me she immigrated to Canada as a young woman, and always found the city very vibrant. She says she came here from Toronto to see the Stampede and never left…or as Ruth said "I never looked back!"
About meeting anyone famous…Ruth tells me she has met many wonderful people on her path of life.
