To say New West resident Mike Hoyer is a dedicated volunteer would be an understatement.
The retired educator spends much of his time travelling overseas volunteering with relief agencies during times of extreme hardship or natural disaster.
More recently, Hoyer led a youth group with the New Westminster Christian Reformed Church on a trip to Honduras over spring break to do some work in the northeast community of El Coyolar.
How long have you volunteered with New Westminster Christian Reformed Church’s Honduras project?
I started five years ago. We went along merely as observers on the youth trip. Then my wife and I have been involved in leading the adult version of the trip, which goes in November. This year, they wanted someone to lead the youth trip again, so we went along.
What do you love about your job as a volunteer?
I think the biggest factor is the social relationships. We’re developing friendships. It’s not like going in once, doing something and then disappearing. We’re going in, we’re building relationships. We’ve seen the bar raised in five years, in terms of the quality of life there.
What have you learned by volunteering?
We’ve learned so much. We’ve learned just to be appreciative of what we do have and not take anything for granted.
What other volunteer work do you do?
We still go overseas for longer periods of time. Like we may be going this summer over to Africa again for three or four months, but that’s another story. We were in Nepal last year, right after the earthquake. The rest of the time we stay home, we volunteer here. I’m involved with the New West police and their community crime prevention program; I’m involved with the Discovery Centre; I’m getting involved with the hospice program (at) Crossroads Hospice over in Coquitlam. So yeah, I’m finding things to do. It’s never a dull moment.
When you’re not volunteering, what are you doing?
I do read a lot. I’m always over at the library. We live in a condo, so we’ve got no room for books, so we basically go out and get books from the library. I’m always reading about the history of British Columbia, the history of the Fraser River – that really enthralls me.
