By Mike Gregory
Ladysmith’s Myf Plecas is too busy seeking out opportunities to make the community she’s called home for over 70 years a better place then to spend time wondering who nominated her for the town’s Citizen of the Year Award.
“I’d prefer just to leave it that somebody thought enough just to nominate me and thought I was worthy of the award,” Plecas said on a recent afternoon in her living room overlooking the water.
In her early 70s, she’s humble in discussing her countless volunteer efforts which have helped some of those most in need.
A print of Ladysmith given to her by the town hangs on the wall in the room, which she is grateful for but about all she’s willing to accept as credit.
“I have never done things for what I can get out of it. It’s just me that I see things that I’d like to contribute to the community,” she said.
Plecas is the major driver behind the Ladysmith Soup Kitchen and Coats for Folks, which she stepped up a few years ago to help its creator Nita Grant.
“I know our community has a lot of people who have nothing from working in this,” she said.
Her husband John also helps out with the soup kitchen, twice a week at its new location
The recent Salmon Dinner at Aggie Hall was a huge success and was attended by upwards of 200 people.
Plecas said she’s particularly organized and a team player.
“I see things that I would like to do to make an event happen or to be better,” she said, pointing to the stacks of House & Home magazines that act as inspiration.
She worked in government up until 1975 and then owned her own tea house business before going back to school.
Having completed a care aid course, she spent 15 years assisting people living with dementia at a Nanaimo long-term care home and retired from “paying work” a few years ago.
“You’re not only looking after their physical needs, you’re looking after their mental needs, you’re looking after their social needs because a lot of them do not have families that come in,” she said of her time seniors’ care facility.
As a volunteer over the years, Plecas has belonged to the Ladysmith Harbour Association, the Area Planning Committee, Ladysmith Revitalization Committee, fundraised at North Oyster Elementary, and has become more involved in planning weddings and social events.
“I think it keeps the person younger. It keeps them from sitting in a chair and feeling sorry for themselves and I just think it gives life to a person,” she said.
As the winter and holiday season approaches, Coats for Folks is the next project that is top of her mind.
Once again this year, the storefront will be in the Employment Navigators building and have everything from donated coats, shoes, blue jeans and jackets to the popular Christmas gift section.
“At the Coats (for Folks) we don’t just give you a coat, we put a whole outfit together,” she said.
Plecas tells a story of running into a local woman who was thankful for the service the pop-up shop was providing to the community.
“She said ‘if it wasn’t for you guys I wouldn’t have had Christmas.’ You know how that makes me feel? Happy in a way, but sad in another way because she doesn’t have anything,” Plecas said.
“You can be a dollar away from being rich, or a dollar away from being poor. There are people out there who are trying to live on what they can.”
Plecas is passionate in her opinions concerning poverty, housing and opportunities for younger segments of the population who are earning low wages.
“I worry about the young people. I really do,” she said. “It’s tough and I can’t see it getting any easier.”
With only one location in town for geared toward affordable housing, she believes there’s areas for improvement.
“There is a real need for it. There’s people who have mental health issues, there are people who have addictions, and they still need help, clothing and a place to live. We have to look at all those things,” she said.
“I really want people to look around. I want you to check out your neighbours. Find out a bit about them. Find out whether they have food.”
As she speaks, Plecas’ phone rings and the answering machine picks of a call from a woman who had donated apples to the soup kitchen.
Volunteers were going to cut and peel them to be made into apple pies.
“I just like to be able to help people who need to help. I can’t tell you why,” she said. “It’s a feeling inside me and I always think if I needed help somebody would be there to help me.”
