At the age of 81, Bill Pineo is doing everything he can to help students get the kind of education he was unable to get.

Chances are he would have got a great education had penicillin been discovered in 1926, the year his father, a Port Alberni druggist, caught pneumonia.

But penicillin wasn't discovered until 1928 and his father died leaving his wife, a nurse, to raise the family on her own.

During the late 1920's, nurses made just forty-five cents an hour, definitely not enough to support a family and also provide a post-secondary education for the children.

Feeling the need to help his mother, Pineo left school in Grade 8.

A few years later, during the Second World War, he joined the army and when he returned, managed to get three years of high school before supporting his own family had to became his number one priority.

To look at him now, you'd never know that Pineo has gone through rough times. He stands tall, looks much younger than his 81 years and you can't help but notice the sparkle in his eye from half a block away.

This is a man who is very much alive, a man who is making a contribution to society each day, a man who is obviously enjoying each moment of his life. But that wasn't always the case.

Pineo has known rough times.

Back in the fifties, he gave up "one of the best jobs in Port Alberni" to move to Nanaimo and open a service station. Things went well at first but then, all too often, he was giving his labour away for free and extending credit to people who had no intention of ever paying their bills.

Eight years later, he found himself sitting on the edge of a bed in a Nanaimo motel room, shaking his head and wondering how he had lost his business, his house and even his car.

"But what goes around comes around," Pineo smiled. At that terrible moment, a friend called from Hawaii and offered him and his family a place to stay.

Nine years later, Pineo was back on his feet and returned to Nanaimo where he drove a school bus for the rest of his career.

After he retired, Pineo and his wife spent a winter in Yuma, Arizona where he volunteered to work one-on-one with children as part of the HOSTS program (Help One Student to Succeed).

When he returned to Nanaimo, Pineo visited Tom Krall, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools at the time -- he knew Tom from his bus driving days -- and suggested that they develop a similar program here in Nanaimo.

Tom referred him to Linda Low, principal of Princess Royal School and with her help, Pineo soon found himself coordinating the BEARS (Be Enthusiastic About Reading Success) and BEAMS (Be Enthusiastic About Math Success) programs and managing 140 volunteers who were working in 26 different schools.

Eventually, Literacy Nanaimo took over the administration of the programs.

Pineo, however, continues to volunteer one to two hours a day, five days a week at Seaview School helping kids with their math.

"I just love it," he says. "It gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning, it helps many kids succeed and it also helps build their self-esteem ... and mine too."

If you have an hour or so a week and you'd like to get involved in the BEARS or BEAMS programs next Fall, Bill Pineo would love to talk to you.

You can reach him at 390-4590.

Bill was nominated as a Neighbourhood Hero by Trish McKinley and her Grade 6 class at Seaview School.