When you’re talking about volunteers, there is one person who is seemingly ever-present at one place almost every time there’s an event at the Yellowknife Ski Club.
That person is John Stephenson and his definition of volunteering should be something simple: if people are in need, then he helps.
“It’s interesting that our society treats volunteering as something unique and special,” said Stephenson. “I have to think that, in our human society, it would just be normal — we just help someone out and we volunteer.”
Volunteering has been something Stephenson has been involved in since the 1980s. As the current facility director with the ski club, his duties include making sure everything is as they should be. Beyond that, he jumps into helping organize different events.
It’s not just the ski club where Stephenson lends his time. He’s offciated at short-track speedskating events and is the current president of the Latham Island Neighborhood Association, which advocates for community road safety and public spaces.
So why did Stephenson become a volunteer in the first place? It began by helping out a friend with an initial cleaning of Old Town back in the 1970s.
“It was a fundraiser for the Old Stope Association to help the residents in Old Town build a shower house since there was a huge need with residents mostly living in shacks without shower facilities,” he said.
Though the shower house never materialized, Stephenson said he still found it meaningful that the funds were used for other good contributions such as the start of the Wildcat Cafe and the first bench in front of the downtown post office.
And that spirit still lives on.
Like others who volunteer, Stephenson has had to sacrifice parts of his personal life.
“Sometimes I had a backlog of things that my children would harass me about, saying, ‘Dad, are you going to pick up those papers and file them?’ and I would say ‘I will work on that tomorrow’,” he said. “Today, the volunteer thing is more rewarding compared to dealing with that pile of papers or a calendar.”
Kerry Wheler, president of the ski club, said Stephenson is one of many volunteers, but he’s always putting things in working order before events begin.
To recognize and honour the work that he’s done, the club awarded him a lifetime membership.
“He has been a consistent contributor,” said Wheler.
Looking into the future, Stephenson hopes that people can still see him running around and still volunteering.
“I’m 71 years old and hopefully another 20 years of active living,” he said. “I have stuff I want to do with sports or something else that will come along and it enriches my life over and over again.”