But the fact is that countless people, in your community and every other, give selflessly of themselves to make sure the wheels keep turning.

With the season of "giving" just around the corner, and most charitable organizations kicking fundraising campaigns into high-gear, Niagara this Week is running a four-part series saluting a fraction of the people who've made a part-time career out of full-time caring.

These are your community's faces.

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Jeanie Bourque spends a lot of time at the Welland Hospital Auxiliary.

She volunteers at the auxiliary's gift shop, five days a week. She spends Tuesdays working cash, the rest of the week checking merchandise.

That's four hours a day, five days a week. This isn't mentioning the extra time she does on evenings, going over paperwork, or on weekends, giving a helping hand.

Bourque even donates her spare time, recently visiting a convention in Toronto to scout for new gifts for the auxiliary's shop, its main source of fundraising.

She does it all with a goal in mind:

"I'm not stopping until that $1 million is paid," said Bourque, referring to the auxiliary's lead donation of $1 million for the Welland hospital's dialysis centre, named after the charitable organization.

Thirty per cent of the balance has been paid off, leaving the auxiliary with $700,000 to go.

"By that time I'll be 75," said Bourque. "As long as I'm walking and talking, I'll be working here."

She began her stint with the auxiliary in September 1985. Always wanting to give back, Bourque had a friend who worked in the auxiliary.

Since then she has worked through a lot of changes at the hospital, including the contentious selling of the coffee shop, a business once operated through the auxiliary that included paid employees.

Petitions were created and people even protested outside of the hospital.

"That got the whole city of Welland upset," recalled Bourque, describing the restaurant that served a breakfast and lunch menu.

"It was a big coffee shop."

And of course, she has helped the auxiliary fund many major projects. As well as continuing to work for the dialysis centre, a facility opened earlier this year, Bourque's been with the group through its funding of $750,000 for intensive care renovations and $500,000 for an "operation update," as the project was called at the time.

Smaller, but no less important items, such as blankets for beds and incubators for newborns, have also been funded by the group through the work of volunteers such as Bourque.

"It's the satisfaction of being able to raise the money to give to the hospital," she said. "Even people who buy a chocolate bar are donating."

Bourque has spent extended periods of time on the executive. She served as president for four years and secretary for eight years, as well as filling in for finance work on an interim basis.

"It's taught me a lot about myself, a lot about business," she said. "It's a lot like a business, but no one gets paid."

And Bourque deserved to learn a lot about herself, with all the work she has done.

Bob Pennie, owner of the hospital's coffee kiosk Perk Up, summed it up:

"She doesn't do everything she tells you," he said. "She does 10 times more."