Between them, Loretta Kyme-Thompson and Clara Jones have more than six decades of volunteering at the hospital.

The pink ladies dedicate their time to the Pink Café, experiencing the highs and lows of life while always doing their best to put a smile on people’s faces.

“I find that the only thing I can really give away to people to take away, is a smile,” Ms Jones, of Warwick, told The Royal Gazette.

“I love to smile. I love people, I enjoy talking to people. I guess that’s why I really kept coming back. This is my 26th year.” Ms Jones volunteers at the Hospitals Auxiliary of Bermuda café every other Saturday and every Wednesday and Ms Kyme-Thompson, also from Warwick, works every Saturday.

“My mother-in-law was actively involved with the women’s auxiliary,” said Ms Kyme-Thompson, who is in her 40th year of volunteering with HAB.

“I like to be busy. I’ve always worked at the Pink Café all the years I’ve volunteered because you are active, whether you’re on the tables or behind the counter.

Ms Kyme-Thompson said she wanted a role where she could make a difference, adding: “You can see the accomplishment.

“There are so many different jobs for the pink ladies throughout the hospital.

“As volunteers in the café now, there’s cashier, there’s waiting on the tables and then there’s doing the takeout orders behind the counter.”

Over the years, she has assumed various roles but she has always come back to the café.

The women started volunteering on Saturdays alongside their day jobs; Ms Jones worked at Belco, while Ms Kyle-Thompson spent her career at the Bank of Bermuda.

For both of them, the social aspect and camaraderie that comes with volunteering is one of the best parts.

Ms Kyme-Thompson said it provided the daily to and fro and social interaction that she enjoyed at her day job.

“You see people you know and the community comes in, whether it’s just to use the café or to visit patients and family,” she said. “You stay connected.”

“A lot of times you have repeat customers, so you get to know them, whether they’re staff at the hospitals or locals, and there’s a bit of chit chat. That makes you feel good.”

The ladies, who are both 74, also enjoy experiencing the highs and lows of life along with their customers, from births to deaths to broken bones.

“It’s not all doom and gloom,” Ms Kyme-Thompson said. “There’s happy times when people are having babies.”

Ms Jones particularly enjoys working at the Pink Café in the summer because she gets to interact with the tourists.

“I find that some of them come in and they’re down and out because their loved one is sick and I find that that is a gift that I’ve got from the Almighty that I can talk to people.”

Ms Jones, who now volunteers on the counter, also loves building up a repertoire with her regulars.

“I used to do tables when I first started — I had customers all the way from St George’s and St David’s that came up every Saturday,” she said.

“They were really disappointed when the café changed from that and not open on a Saturday.”

The greatest satisfaction for Ms Kyme-Thompson lies in knowing that they are raising money for a good cause.

She said she laughs when people start grumbling about price increases and is quick to point out that the café’s proceeds go towards purchasing equipment for the hospital.

“I look at them and just say ‘just think it’s a donation to the hospital’. We’re not here for a profit — any profit we make is given to the hospital.”

“Bermuda, for a very small community, is very fortunate to have a facility like the hospital.”

She added that volunteering is her way of thanking the hospital for being there.

“But you’re not only giving back to the hospital,” Ms Jones added. “It’s really the person that you’re trying to help because they come in here.”

For more information about volunteering with HAB, call 236-2488 or visit the website here.