After years of work an Okotoks resident is a real advocate for volunteering.
John Rout, 69, was busy sorting papers and cleaning up the supply room at Ecole Percy Pegler School as part the Foothills AIM Society’s volunteer work on April 11.
“I’ve been at Percy Pegler for a long time,” Rout said. “I enjoy it because I like the children and I like to help out.”
The Foothills Advocacy In Motion (AIM) Society provides work and volunteers opportunities for special needs adults in the Okotoks area.
“John joined AIM in 2008 and when he was younger he did work but he chose to retire,” said Brad Fowler, Okotoks AIM employment and day services manager. “Now he’s filling his time volunteering, which he loves. He’s such an active guy.”
Rout is just one of many AIM clients volunteering in the Okotoks community.
“Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community,” Fowler said. “Number two, it’s a great way to develop skills in the work environment. It looks good on the resumé but, most of all, it gets them involved in the community.”
Rout’s been part of the Pegler community for four years now.
“John brings to the school a sense of kindness, fun and a reality of what it means to be human,” said Pegler principal Dinah Shortt. “We don’t see him as someone who is special needs. He just fits.”
As Rout went around doing his duties on Monday, there were shouts of encouragement from the students.
That’s all par for the course.
“When he is around the building or in the hallways, he’s celebrated — It’s ‘Hi John. How are you doing?’” Shortt said. “We enjoy him tremendously. He’s giving us the sense of humanity.”
He also provides an added dimension for students at the already very inclusive Percy Pegler School.
“Kids these days have more opportunities to be in inclusive environments, but they are in inclusive environments with kids their own age,” Shortt said. “John brings to an inclusive environment that adults have special needs as well. That we need to accept that aspect of society as well.”
It’s worked. Some four years ago, Rout came home with approximately 30 cards welcoming him to the school.
“All the kids signed them and he was really touched,” Fowler said. “His mom was a teacher and the school environment was where he wanted to go. It’s really meant a lot to him.”
Shortt said the work Rout does, such as photocopying or folding materials, frees up work for the teachers.
“This is extra stuff that the teachers might have to do after school, so it is a big help,” Shortt said. “His job is important in our school.”
Rout is assisted by Karen Scantlebury, a job coach at AIM.
Rout also volunteers at Bibles for Missions where he arranges books. He also helps at the Okotoks Evangelical Church and the Sandstone Lodge with a therapy dog to visit seniors. AIM clients have volunteered at several venues in the area, including the Okotoks Food Bank.
Anyone wishing to support a volunteer from AIM with some work may call Fowler at 403-995-0554, extension 23.
