Long before she became Canada\u2019s first female astronaut, Dr. Roberta Bondar spent much of her childhood making a difference here on Earth. As a Girl Guide growing up in her hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., a young Roberta was a regular volunteer at her local hospital, helping patients who were cognitively impaired.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if we made a change in the patients\u2019 lives,\u201d she said to the audience gathered for Circle of Care\u2019s annual volunteer recognition event this week. \u201cBut we definitely made a change in the lives of their caregivers, by giving them rest and showing them that someone else cared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Bondar, a neurologist, went on to head an international space medicine research team with NASA for over a decade, finding new connections between astronauts recovering from spaceflight and neurological illnesses on Earth, such as stroke and Parkinson\u2019s disease. But making an impact on a smaller scale, said Dr. Bondar, is truly what makes the world go round.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a remarkable thing to be a volunteer. Whatever you do, you\u2019re influencing more people than you can imagine,\u201d she said. \u201cIf volunteerism stopped in the world, the world would stop. We can\u2019t move forward as a society without volunteers.\u201d<\/p>\n