When Ralph Griffiths put out his call to recognise people who have made a difference on Galiano Rick and Dorothy Beauchamp immediately came to mind.

Rick and Dorothy first came to Galiano in 1982. They felt it was a good fit for them in that the community reminded them of Nelson. They camped at Montague and were able to do this in the spring and fall while they had only a toddler. Once their second child was born and their first child was school-aged, they decided to try to find a piece of land on which to put a trailer so that they could come to the island at other times. They managed to scrape enough money together to buy the McRae’s land with a cabin in Montague Harbour. They were able to manage this because the McRae’s carried part of their mortgage. A few years ago they renovated the old cabin into a beautiful home and garden.

Rick and Dorothy grew up in Nelson, B.C., another small community where volunteering plays a key role in the community life. They met in high school and married during university. Dorothy became an elementary teacher and Rick an orthopaedic paediatric surgeon.

As youth both were involved in guides and scouts. Dorothy volunteered in a care facility and later, as an adult, was a guide leader for over 25 years. Rick volunteered as a Classifier with the International Cerebral Palsy Sports Association for Bocce tournaments. He travelled to England, Rio de Janeiro and Argentina in this role. Rick and Dorothy have been role models for their 3 children who now also volunteer in their communities.

Rick and Dorothy were part of the running community in Vancouver for 20 years running races from 5k to marathons (Dorothy ran 8, Rick ran 7). They opened their home every year to their multi-age running group for a soup party, building community in the city.

If it is a Monday Soup and Bread likely you’ll find Dorothy in the South Hall kitchen chopping and Rick doing a lot of dishes with surgical precision in the “dish pit”. When asked what motivates them to volunteer both say that they wanted to help out in the community if they could and that they love the community aspect of the Galiano Club. They enjoy (and contribute to) the camaraderie in the Hall kitchen and enjoy touching base with others. Rick likes volunteering in positive situations that don’t involve meetings. He likes dishwashing, chopping vegetables and grating cheese. Dorothy likes doing anything in the Hall kitchen. They like the social and connecting aspects of the Food Program and especially appreciate the leadership that Alison Colwell provides the Program.

Rick and Dorothy have been involved in other aspects of the Food Program and community including Nettlefest and the Community Picnic where Dorothy has won first prize in many food contests. Rick has served on the Health Care Centre Board, helped paint the South Fire Hall years ago and Dorothy worked for the Wine Festival.

Rick and Dorothy have talked about how rewarding they find volunteering in this community. I would say that the Galiano community benefits enormously from their contributions. Thank you, Rick and Dorothy!