Nadine Dionne, ClaimsPro’s Manager, National Adjuster Development, in our Mississauga office, is an avid volunteer – for many groups within the insurance industry and in her personal life too. In this article, we’ll celebrate her involvement, and her family’s, with the Moose International organization, particularly the Oshawa Moose Lodge in her community.

Moose International is a not for profit, community-based organization made up of local lodges across Canada, where members connect socially while supporting charitable causes and giving back to their communities.

“I have been involved with Moose International for many years,” says Nadine. “In fact, I am a second-generation member! My parents have volunteered there for many many years, so I was there a lot growing up and throughout my early adult years! My dad does the finances for them and my mom runs the Nevada tickets (lottery). They were a bit more involved when they were younger – bartending and helping organize community events – but less so now that they are getting older. Though they are still there once a week for their volunteer duties!”

“My volunteer involvement is mostly as a food server, when the lodge hosts special community events such as murder mystery dinners, dinner theatre at Valentine’s Day, sometimes Friday night dinners – but mostly for the Sunday morning breakfasts.”

“Every Sunday, my husband volunteers as the ‘cook’ making the typical breakfast menu: bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, pancakes and omelets. This spring he started adding strawberry crepes too, and they went over well! My son and I are the servers, so we set up, take orders, serve, and clean up afterwards.”

Nadine’s son is 13 and about to graduate from grade 8! She hopes he’ll continue to volunteer with the family, because he’ll be able to get his high school volunteer hours when he’s in grade 9! “I love that I am passing these values down to my son!”

“It takes a team to pull everything together (someone shops, someone does inventory, etc.), so it’s a really nice community and everyone at the Lodge just wants to help. Help build community, make social connections and provide affordable meals to Moose members and their families and friends,” explains Nadine. “Our ‘customers’ also know we are volunteers, so they are always so kind. It can be exhausting, but it leaves me with such a feeling of happiness and pride – it’s always a highlight of my weekend!

Let’s applaud Nadine and family for three generations of commitment to supporting Moose members and building community in Oshawa!

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 For more information about the Oshawa Moose Lodge or Lodges and Chapters in Ontario, visit: Lodges and Chapters - Ontario Moose Association

Photo: Nadine and kitchen team cooking up breakfast!

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About the Volunteer Spotlight Series

During Canada’s Volunteer Appreciation Week, April 19–25, an Insider article invited our people to share their volunteering stories. Six stories were chosen to be promoted in this summer series so that their contributions and the great work of their organizations could be recognized by a larger audience. This is profile 4 of 6. The next article in the series will be posted on August 24 for a little Monday Motivation.