Mike Sciacca Janice Hardy feels that every...

Mike Sciacca

Janice Hardy feels that every person has a story to tell.

Through her volunteer work, Hardy is trying to get local senior

citizens to express their life experiences through conversation and

writings.

Hardy belongs to the Huntington Beach-based Sharing Life’s

Experiences.org, a program with 10 core members who volunteer their

time by visiting those living in senior retirement communities.

Hardy and Paul Ortiz, her fiance and a member of Sharing Life’s

Experiences.org, joined their fellow members these past few weeks

spreading holiday cheer.

The program’s goal this month was to have seniors share their

favorite holiday memories.

“We have been asking them to share any experiences they can recall

from holidays past, and you hear some really neat stories,” Hardy,

50, said. “I might have to be the one to start the storytelling by

sharing one of my experiences, and then things tend to open up from

there.”

SharingLife’sExperiences.org was conceived about a year ago by

Duane Heppner, a local contractor, avid surfer and close friend of

Hardy.

“Our idea is to visit these senior residences and have these

people talk about their life experiences,” Hardy said. “These talks

really open them up, and they are able to generate stories from one

another.

“These folks have some incredible little stories to tell. Through

these stories, we want them to see their own life’s value.”

The program’s members travel individually on a weekly basis to

senior retirement communities in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley,

Newport Beach, Corona del Mar and Garden Grove.

Hardy, a post office manager in Long Beach, said she makes visits

four times per month. A majority of those visits taking place in the

evening, following her regular work day.

During this holiday season, the program volunteers traveled as a

group to each of the senior homes, having residents tell their

stories and encouraging them to put their memories in writing.

“This is very fun and quite rewarding,” said Ortiz, who for 12

years has been a ski instructor at Mountain High. “Hearing their

stories has given me a different perspective on a lot of things that

some of these folks have gone through, like living through the

Depression or World War II.

“I have no links to those timeframes,” he said. “Their stories

make me realize how easy we tend to have it today. These visits sure

are a great lesson in history.”

Ortiz fondly refers to those he visits as “seasoned citizens.”

Hardy said her volunteer spirit was instilled in her by her

mother, Barbara Camp West, a longtime Long Beach resident who had

been recognized by the Long Beach Press Telegram for her lifelong

volunteer work.

Barbara Camp West, 78, died in August from injuries sustained in a

car accident this past summer.

“She was quite the volunteer,” Hardy said. “I was one of four

children who she basically raised alone, and what I remember about

her was that she taught us to always volunteer, always remember there

are others who have less than you, and that there’s always something

to give.”

Hardy then recalled one of her favorite holiday memories, which

involves her mother.

“It happened when I was 10,” she said. “I had wanted a bike for

Christmas. Mom was raising us four kids, and money was extremely

tight for our family, so I wasn’t really expecting anything.

“But there it was, a bike for Christmas. My mom bought it for $5

at a garage sale. There was rust on the thing, but I didn’t care. I

remember getting a Brillo pad and scrubbing away. I have never worked

so hard to clean something. I have appreciated that gift more than

any other gift I have received in my life.”