Kambi Heywood
three-and-a-half years as a teenager she lived with her family in Haiti and it was there where she first realized the impact of community work.
“We lived in a small, four-room home right in a smaller village,” she says. “One of the rooms, my mom quickly converted into a clinic. My sister and I home schooled and helped out with the clinic and with various projects my parents were working on while we were there.”
The family had travelled to Haiti to visit a mission not long after losing a six-year- old girl — Heywood’s little sister — to cancer. The work being done touched them all so much they decided to move there not long afterward.
38 Kambi Heywood is an addict.
But if the City of Medicine Hat is lucky enough, this is one habit she will never kick.
That’s because what this 38-year-old mortgage professional is hooked on isn’t hurting her, or anyone else for that matter. In fact it’s the exact opposite.
Kambi Heywood is addicted to volunteering.
Heywood came to Medicine Hat from Cranbrook in 2004 with her husband Paul, after growing up in the Kootenays. But for
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“It was a very important part of my life. Definitely that’s what really did it; knowing that volunteering is a part of your life, not just something that you do.”
By day, Heywood is an accredited mortgage professional and has been for 17 years, working in B.C. before Paul took a position with the brand new Esplanade in Medicine Hat.
But by night — actually, anytime she can corral a spare moment — Heywood spends her time involved in several areas of volunteer work.
Her first order of business after arriving in Medicine Hat was to immediately join the Sunrise Rotary Club — perfect for her because of its ultra early meet times — and has now spent a combined dozen years as a Rotarian between the Hat and Cranbrook.
“Rotary intrigued me because I could see a group of people that were able to help raise money volunteer both locally and internationally,” Heywood says. “It struck a chord.”
Heywood is active with Junior Achievement, committed to instilling proper tools for entrepreneurship and business into the community’s youth. As a mortgage professional, she’s well suited for the task but her biggest claim to fame with JA is the annual Rock, Paper, Scissors championship, where all ages compete for a very random title. Heywood’s brainchild, the event gained instant notoriety due to its unique ability to include everyone.
She also volunteers with the program Dollars and Sense, where individuals go into junior high schools and teach a practical level of financial literacy. She has also been the chair of the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society for the past two years, involved for six.
Recently, the biggest focus of that board has been the development of an endowment program to help the Women’s Shelter not be so reliant on government funding and grants.
Heywood, along with her children, also assisted this year with the Cancer Society’s Daffodil program. She wanted to start getting her children involved in community work now so they will develop a strong outlook on its importance.
“Kids need to feel like they are contributing to make their community and the world a better place. It builds a sense of ownership and pride for where they live.”
But as if a career, family and her volunteer schedule aren’t enough to fill a 30-hour day already, Heywood squeezes in enough time to be a part-time fitness instructor. That may not be as crazy as it sounds though, as she says keeping fit is what provides her with the sufficient energy to get through her day.
Makes sense.
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