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Sooke resident retires from Canadian Blood Services after more than 60 years of service

Amy Chwojka made her first blood donation in 1952 and has been there ever since.
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Longtime Sooke resident Amy Chwojka is retiring as a volunteer with Canadian Blood Services after serving for more than 60 years.

The Canadian Blood Services is saying goodbye to one of its longest serving volunteers.

Sooke resident Amy Chwojka is retiring from her volunteer duties at CBS after more than 60 years with the organization, donating countless hours of her time and 114 pints of blood.

Chwojka’s journey with CBS began in 1952 when she was in nursing school at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Victoria. During her second year of training, she became aware of the need for blood products and became a blood donor.

Her career as a nurse took her many places: a post-graduate degree from McGill University in Montreal, public health nursing in Duncan, air rescue into logging camps on the Sunshine Coast, working with the Doukhobors in the Kootenay’s, and Chilliwack, where she was the nurse supervisor for the Fraser Valley.

Chwojka and her family moved to Sooke in 1964 when her husband found work there and she worked in a doctor’s office until she retired 20 years ago.

Retirement did not slow Chwojka down. She devoted herself to her community, volunteering with the Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society, Sooke Fall Fair and with Canadian Blood Services. She was also very active in her church and put on the Strawberry Tea for 38 years.

“While Amy is taking a step back from her volunteer work at CBS, her commitment to the cause will live on through her three children, who she’s talked into donating, the countless patient’s lives she has saved through her own donations, and the donors, volunteers and community members whose lives she has touched and inspired,” said  Natasha Wakaruk, with CBS.

“Thank you, Amy, for all of the work, time and heart you have given to save patient lives across the country. We wish you much happiness, good health and laughter for all of your journeys to come.”