Volunteers win Human Touch Awards
Sunnybrook volunteers, Mort Finkelstein and Anne Wolf are recipients of 2014 Human Touch Awards, given by Cancer Care Ontario to honour front-line cancer and renal healthcare professionals and volunteers who provide exemplary and compassionate care in Ontario.
Together, Anne and Mort have dedicated almost 40 years of volunteering at our Odette Cancer Centre and have supported many individuals through the cancer journey.
Anne Wolf knows the power of compassion. A volunteer with the Odette Cancer Centre for nearly twenty years, Anne has actively volunteered throughout personal diagnoses of cancer, one she is currently battling, in order to make other peoples' journeys a bit brighter and easier. In an effort to achieve this, Wolf cofounded Bayview Support Network, with her daughter, to give survivors and caregivers support in many ways. As a volunteer, Wolf helps with everything from preparing the refreshment cart to assisting patients with wig fittings. Wolf is known to not only extend her compassion and sincerity to patients but also to be an empathetic, caring presence for her fellow volunteers, often survivors themselves, through being ever-ready with friendly words, a warm extended hand and a kind hug whenever needed.
Mort Finkelstein understands that humour, hope and empathy are key to making personal connections with patients at a time they need it most. A volunteer at the Odette Cancer Centre for the past 19 years, Finkelstein has an uncanny ability to bond with patients struggling with their own fears, and putting them at ease. Finkelstein, who dealt with his own cancer journey, has the ability to see things through a patient's perspective and understands what they need, whether that be a chat about the weather, understanding the many services available to them or simply a humour break. His passion for compassion is evident through the patients who seek him out at their follow-up appointments, attributing Finkelstein's sense of humour and sharing of his personal experience for their own strength.
