Pictured: Lionel Axler and Irving Goldstein (seated)

"Before I retired, my days were filled with work. Then there was a void.  I didn't need to make money.  I needed to fill time and to help somebody.  Baycrest was the logical spot and once I began volunteering there, everything fell in line."  

After his retirement 2 1/2 years ago, Lionel Axler approached the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care to see what volunteer opportunities were available.    As the result of macular degeneration, Lionel has peripheral vision only, but he was sure that he could be of assistance to the Baycrest residents.  After discussing several possibilities with the Activity Manager, Lionel offered to visit eight patients on the second floor.  While these patients suffered from physical ailments that hampered their motor skills, their minds were still sharp.  Lionel began coming to Baycrest twice a week, taking three buses each way in order to spend time socializing with the patients. 

During his visits, Lionel noticed that his friend, Sid Blackman, a stroke patient in the Apotex Centre-Jewish Home For The Aged, was leaving the complex each week to play bridge at another facility.  Hoping to help Sid and other Baycrest residents, Lionel decided to organize a Baycrest bridge club.  He realized that, while the residents could manage the mental demands of the game, they might need help with the physical aspects.  Lionel solved this problem by getting racks to hold the players' cards and by assigning volunteers to help with shuffling and dealing as required. 

When asked why he volunteers at Baycrest, Lionel quietly replies, "I do it for the satisfaction of helping someone else.  Just to see someone smile is enough thanks for me."  While Lionel downplays the value of his volunteer work, his friends at Baycrest celebrate his contribution to their lives.  Last year, ninety-two year-old Baycrest resident Irving Goldstein learned to play bridge, after watching some of the more experienced players in Lionel's twice-weekly Baycrest bridge club.  Now an active bridge player himself, Irving is also a talented poet and wrote a poem in praise of Lionel Axler: 

A Happy Volunteer

I refer to a gentleman whose name is Lionel
Full of life and frisky, like he won a golf final.

At seventy-five he decided to retire
But he still felt he had a lot of fire.
 
He played bridge brilliantly for many years
To do nothing would mean drinking lots of beers.

Having time on his hands and nothing to fear
He decided to go to Baycrest to volunteer.

He gathered residents and made a group of four
Each one of them played bridge long before.

They sit and ponder what suit to bid
When the bidder makes the contract they feel like a kid.

To make people happy is Lionel’s present goal
And he delights in doing it with heart and soul.

He wants learners to reach a higher ridge
That’s Lionel’s desire for the game of bridge.

As an affable man, Lionel is hard to beat
As fine a man you would ever want to meet.