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September 11th, 2020
Patricia (Pat) Rita Rolande Jensen, a resident of Astoria Retirement Residence has won this year’s BCSLA L.E.A.P (Let’s Embrace Aging Passionately) Award for Resident of the Year. The award was presented on September 10th, 2020 at Astoria Retirement Residence in Port Coquitlam.
Every year BCSLA calls for its 165 sites to nominate one resident for the L.E.A.P Award. To qualify, a recipient must have made an important contributions to the community they live for the other residents, inspire other residents to overcome challenges, is a champion for social causes and promotes community involvement, and makes a valuable contribution to the quality of life of other residents. Pat has exceeded these qualifications.
“It is our honour as BCSLA and our personal privilege to acknowledge Pat for the beautiful things she has done for our communities, for the people who live around her and for setting an example on what living passionately means,” said Karim Kassam, Vice-President of BCSLA.
Since moving into Astoria in 2015, Pat has been an active member of the Astoria community throughout her years there. She possess a great sense of humour, a willingness to work hard as a volunteer and a dedication to helping others. Pat has always loved to be needed, and she’s always the first to offer to lend a hand. As much as Pat loves to help out, she also finds great joy in giving back.
She has volunteered for various fundraising efforts and recruits other participants as well. For a woman who absolutely hates exercise, Pat has been on the team and a lead fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation Big Bike Ride every year. She raises money for and participates in the Terry Fox Run, even though the shorter distances are getting harder and harder on her. She loves to decorate the bus for the May Day Parade, and you’ll always see her cheering as the Astoria moves down Shaughnessy Street.
Pat’s community building activities don’t just revolve around important holidays. She is the life of every party and has started Happy Hour at Astoria for all the residents to join together for a pre-dinner drink or two as they unwind and share stories from their day. In her younger days, Pat also volunteered to drive fellow Astorians on outings when they couldn’t get a seat on the bus.
Pat’s sense of humour shone through when she learned about winning the Resident of the Year award. “I feel like I’ve just won the Oscar,” she said with all smiles. When asked about what it feels like to be an L.E.A.P Award winner, Pat said, “It feels absolutely fabulous. Makes me special in the whole building!”
In addition to the gift card to Kobe’s Japanese Steakhouse and the personalized award, Astoria Retirement Residence also received a token of appreciation from BCSLA. “It is my pleasure and privilege to honour those who support Pat and others at Astoria and Sienna Senior Living for all the work they do. Without them, we wouldn’t have found Pat. We are very grateful as an Association for the strong partners who bring forward shining lights and examples of what it means to live as an senior and to livepassionately.”, said Adena Waffle, President of BCSLA.
With the aim to inspire other seniors, Pat says, “Don’t sit in your room watching the paint dry, get out of your comfort zone by getting involved, talk to people and participate, especially in a community where is there always something going on!”
About BC Seniors Living Association:
BC Seniors Living Association is a voluntary, membership-driven organization dedicated to being a valuable source for member development, education and growth. The organization works to promote and protect the best interests of its members in BC. The four cornerstones of BCSLA is actively advocating, educating, mediating and celebrating retirement communities and their residents. For more information, please visit our website: www.bcsla.ca/
Social Media:
Twitter: @BCSeniorsLiving, Facebook: BC Seniors Living Association Media Contact: Sana Santosh, 604-689-5949 ext. 2, [email protected]