We might not always agree with one another, but when the chips are down Vancouver Islanders will go the extra mile to help complete strangers.
Mother Nature packed a wallop last week, with record-breaking amounts of snow. But as car wheels spun and families worried about how they were going to get home, a flurry of Good Samaritans stepped into the breach — and made their day.
Judith Fraser praised Bob Stankov, a cheerful Canada Post driver who pitched in to help five women in her strata who were shovelling a long driveway — after first delivering their mail.
“Without hesitation he commandeered a shovel, taking over for the oldest amongst us,” said Fraser. “As he drove off he said: ‘I’ll be back tomorrow morning to help you again.’ Kudos to him — a fine example of the good will amongst us when it’s needed most.”
Alex Meikle, a 14-year-old student at Belmont Secondary School, and his friend Michael Simard got together on a snow day to make life easier for bus riders.
The pair shoveled out 120 bus stops in the WestShore, hopping on and off buses to get to the next stop.
Meikle, who hopes to become a paramedic, used a borrowed snowblower to clear a path for a woman in a wheelchair.
Kim Manton reported on how an act of kindness made her day.
She had resorted to walking on the road because the accumulation of snow. After the plows came through, snow at the roadside was up to her knees.
“After five minutes of walking a bus driver stopped for me, opened his door and said: ‘Get off the road and get in’,” she said. “If he didn’t have safety glass he would have had the biggest hug. I almost cried — okay maybe I did a little.”
At the height of the snowfall on last Monday and Tuesday, members of the Vancouver Island Toyota 4x4 Club pitched in to offer free rides for hospital staff trying to get to work.
Jacob Vanoverschot, a spokesperson for the club, reported that he alone gave rides to 21 nurses in two days.
At B.C. Ferries, employees went above and beyond the call of duty. Among the stories that emerged:
• A deckhand who drove a couple home after they arrived at Swartz Bay in the middle of Sunday’s snow storm and found that there were no buses or cabs available at the terminal.
• The chief steward of Coastal Inspiration drove a passenger to the airport to pick up his car so he wouldn’t be stranded as the storm raged late Sunday night.
• A ticket agent who camped overnight at the terminal to ensure that she would be there at 4:40 a.m. to open her ticket booth.
