Humans of Orcas | Meet Hilary Canty

||| BY GRAY GAILEY |||

For my senior project, I decided to highlight various volunteers on our island as a chance to shine a spotlight on both the volunteers and the incredible organizations they support. I conducted interviews, took photos of these do-gooders, and titled my project Humans of Orcas. All Humans of Orcas articles will be available to read on my blog, girlfolk.com, under Travel + Culture. They will also be occasionally featured in the Orcasonian, so stay tuned for more! 

If you live on Orcas Island, you have likely heard the name Hilary Canty before. She was the office manager at the Orcas Island Elementary School, before hearing about a position with the Orcas Island Community Foundation, where she has been working as the Executive Director for the past seventeen years. For twenty-two years, Canty served as a volunteer EMT on Orcas, meaning she was always on-call, prepared to assist her community during some of their worst times. Despite her hatred of blood and condition described as “contact vomiting,” Canty became a volunteer EMT. This was for a handful of reasons:

1. Her husband was a volunteer firefighter at the time, so she was already exposed to that world.
2. She heard of the dire need for EMS on the island.
3. Her “plant plug” threatened to stop selling her plants if she did not volunteer with the Fire Department.

Canty’s favorite aspect of working as an EMT on Orcas was being able to check in on her patients afterward when she would run into them at the grocery store or at Food Bank community dinners. However, after twenty-two years, Canty felt the desire to do good in a less emotionally taxing manner. She was aware that the Orcas Island Food Bank was on the lookout for volunteers, so six months ago, she offered her support.

The Food Bank is set up as a grocery store for customers to peruse items; only the food provided is free of charge. They also provide free snacks for teens on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 12:30 pm – 1:15 pm and will soon be resuming hot meals on Tuesdays. Canty’s duties at the Food Bank include restocking shelves and bagging groceries, which she says has given her a newfound respect for grocery workers.

Canty’s favorite part of volunteering at the Food Bank is the social aspect; she enjoys meeting people from all walks of life and catching up with old patients. Both she and her husband are thankful for her volunteer work at the Food Bank being a weekly shift, as well. No more waking up in the middle of the night to a pager in their household.

When asked why volunteering matters, Canty explained that is a “giving of yourself.” She believes volunteering benefits the giver and the receiver; volunteers feel a sense of helpfulness and connectedness that no job could supply. Canty believes the only way our caring island community can continue is with volunteering.

Orcas Island Food Bank receives donations from Orcas Island Market, Co-Op, and Food Lifeline, but individuals can also bring in donations of food or donate money on their website. For more info: Orcas Island Community Foundation: oicf.us.