This week sees the first instalment of our Weekly Featured Seniors for Seniors’ Month. Our Featured Seniors for this month are Bev and Richard Bondy.
69-year-old Bev Bondy, and her husband Richard, soon to be 69 himself, are two individuals with a clear passion for doing their part and helping others. If there is anything at all holding the couple back from that passion, you most certainly can’t tell when speaking with them.
“Most of the time, we’re asked to help with something, and we see it as an opportunity,” Bev told me in a conversation I had with the couple. “If there’s a need, then someone has to fill it, so we say ‘why not us.’”
There’s certainly a good number of needs that the Bondys fill. Both are heavily involved at the St. John the Baptist Parish in Amherstburg, both deliver meals for the ACS Meals on Wheels program, and both will be volunteering at the Amherstburg Fort Malden Horticultural Society Garden Tour on June 18 this summer. Bev, a former Chamber of Commerce President, also happens to work for Dollars and Cents, having just completed her 42nd tax season at the location.
As is so often the case though, both Bev and Richard admit that they get a lot out of their work in the community.
“The Meals on Wheels program is a great example of this, because you build a real connection with the clients and there’s a real joy that comes of it – it’s a privilege really,” Bev explained, with Richard nodding in agreement. “You see, it isn’t just about delivering meals…you laugh with them [the clients], speak with them, even cry with them.”
The Bondys, two incredible, vibrant individuals, set a wonderful example for all of us. Like anyone else, they face their own barriers, but they’re yet to show any signs of slowing down.