Dedication Without Borders
This issue’s Localer: a retired police officer dedicates her life to local and international volunteering.
By Bob Nelson
KATHLEEN DOHERTY’S VISION for her future life of volunteer service came to her on a visit to Italy shortly after her mother passed away. It was a time of deep reflection. After almost 30 years rising up the ranks in the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Doherty felt it was time for a change. “My mom was always about helping others and being there,” she says. “That there’s a greater purpose.” Doherty called her spouse and said, “You know what? I think I’m done. I have this vision that there’s something else I could be doing in the world.”
It’s not that her life with the OPP wasn’t gratifying. She had joined the force in 1994 at 29 years old, worked her way up to detective and eventually became the first female head of the provincial dignitary protection section since its formation in 1963.
After retiring in 2018, Doherty signed on as a member of the Canadian humanitarian aid organization GlobalMedic, providing services in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in 2019, as well as working in Puerto Rico, Armenia and Bolivia. In 2022, she was part of a team assisting Ukrainian refugees in Moldova. She volunteers with Team Rubicon, an aid group made up of military veterans and passionate civilians.
For this work and much more, she received the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism in 2025. But, she says, you don’t need to travel the world to do good. Every week, she helps make meals at Hospice Simcoe in her hometown of Barrie. “So many little things can mean so much... you don’t have to always be doing some big grandiose gesture.” Sometimes, it’s just about being there and sharing a meal.
Doherty believes in doing good both at home and around the world. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF KATHLEEN DOHERTY
“My mom was always about helping others and being there, that there's a greater purpose.”
Doherty at work in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in 2019. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF KATHLEEN DOHERTY
Do you know someone who goes above and beyond?
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Doherty believes in doing good both at home and around the world. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF KATHLEEN DOHERTY
KATHLEEN DOHERTY'S VISION for her future life of volunteer service came to her on a visit to Italy shortly after her mother passed away. It was a time of deep reflection. After almost 30 years rising up the ranks in the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Doherty felt it was time for a change. “My mom was always about helping others and being there,” she says. “That there’s a greater purpose.” Doherty called her spouse and said, “You know what? I think I’m done. I have this vision that there’s something else I could be doing in the world.”
It’s not that her life with the OPP wasn’t gratifying. She had joined the force in 1994 at 29 years old, worked her way up to detective, and eventually became the first female head of the provincial dignitary protection section since its formation in 1963.
After retiring in 2018, Doherty signed on as a member of the Canadian humanitarian aid organization GlobalMedic, providing services in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in 2019, as well as working in Puerto Rico, Armenia and Bolivia. In 2022, she was part of a team assisting Ukrainian refugees in Moldova. She volunteers with Team Rubicon, an aid group made up of military veterans and passionate civilians.
For this work and much more, she received the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism in 2025. But, she says, you don’t need to travel the world to do good. Every week, she helps make meals at Hospice Simcoe in her hometown of Barrie. “So many little things can mean so much... you don’t have to always be doing some big grandiose gesture.” Sometimes, it’s just about being there and sharing a meal.