Born and raised in St. John’s NFLD, Garry is a retired police officer, having served 30 years with the RCMP, the last 9 of those in Oceanside. Garry has been volunteering since he was a teenager, and continues that service today with several local organizations. He has been a member and a volunteer of SOS since 2003, serving on its Board of Directors from 2004-2012 and since 2013. 

Joshua and his partner Sandra moved to this area from North Eastern BC. He is a web developer working on open source education software. Some of the areas where he has previously volunteered include Thailand, after the 2004 Tsunami, he has worked with international organizations to bring computer technology to rural areas of Myanmar, and he is currently working with a charity to retrofit dozens of schools with modern computer technology. Josh has been serving on the SOS Board since 2017.

Don Luke worked in telecommunications for 40 years, before moving to Parksville in 2000. While working in Ontario, he joined Revenue Canada’s Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, and has continued that work with SOS. He is also active in Rotary, assisting in world wide projects. Don was presented with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers in 2017, in recognition of his contributions to this community. Don was elected to the SOS Board in 2017.

Paul Ruffell was born and raised in the United Kingdom, where he received his engineering degree. He came to Canada in 1981 and worked in the Arctic for a decade. He became president and CEO of an Engineering Consulting firm based in Western Canada, and eventually led an Infrastructure group with 3,500 staff across Canada. He has served on several not-for-profit boards. Paul moved to Qualicum Beach in 2015 and lives there with his wife Christine, who also volunteers for SOS. He was elected to the SOS Board in 2017.

Anne Thompson’s career and volunteer work has focused on empowering people to lead independent and healthy lifestyles. She has worked in management of large, rural extension programs, as a lecturer and curriculum developer for Home Support Worker and Gerontology certificate programs at the community college level, and as a secondary school nutrition teacher.  She was involved in the startup of a rural Meals on Wheels service and an urban Community Kitchen. She has participated on numerous committees including a Regional Home Care Program, an Independent Living Centre, an Interfaith Counselling Centre, and a provincial Homemaker Service.  Anne was elected to the SOS Board in June, 2019.

Susanna has worked most of her career in the non-profit sector and has been with SOS for over 25 years, most recently as Assistant Executive Director. Susanna was born and raised in Finland and moved to England in 1984, where she worked for a Housing Society on the Isle of Wight. She immigrated to Canada in 1992 with her husband and they landed in Coombs as “butterfly breeders” in the family business. Susanna became Executive Director of SOS in January 2018.