By Thea Jarvis

After a visit to Bernie Bourdon's warehouse workshop on Irwin Bridge Road in Conyers, even a cynic would have to concede that there is a Santa Claus.

Bourdon's coarse white beard, twinkling eyes and storehouse of toys, games and gadgets gives him away even in spring, when St. Nick should rightfully be hiding.

Known to locals as the endearing Santa who graces their Christmas season, Bourdon last month received national recognition for his service to the elderly and handicapped. He was one of 10 individuals chosen to receive a "Kleenex Says Bless You" award, presented annually by the Kimberly-Clark Corporation to ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

The award carries with it a donation of $2,000 to a charity selected by the honoree. Bourdon plans to divide the money between two organizations that take his time and claim his heart: Meals on Wheels, which delivers food to homebound elderly, and Tech-Able, a technology and research center providing assistance to the disabled.

"You cannot put a dollar value" on the reward received from such work, said Bourdon, who turned to full-time volunteering after 37 years with Canada-based Northern Telecom, Inc.

Since he initiated a Saturday Meals on Wheels program for Lithonia, Covington and Rockdale County in 1988, Bourdon and 18 other volunteers have served over 23,000 hot, full course meals to seniors unable to leave their homes.

"We feed not only the physical, but we also (feed) a lot of love," said Bourdon, who does the shopping and cooking for the program and adds his special brand of care when he visits. Often he is asked to pray with those whose health or circumstances is cause for concern.

"You get so attached to these special people you deliver to," he said. "We call them friends, not clients."

At Tech-Able, founder-director Lynn Chiu has conferred on Bourdon an MTST degree: master of toys and switch technology. In the 5,000-square-foot warehouse that is Tech-Able's headquarters, Bourdon puts his technological know-how to use adapting and modifying toys and electronics for people with disabilities.

Combining batteries and switches, plugs and contacts, he transforms ordinary objects into opportunities for the disabled to communicate and interact with a world often out of their reach. He and Tech-Able make such products available at a substantially lower cost than prices at standard retail outlets.

"We're limited only by the imagination we have," said Bourdon, surrounded by custom-adapted clocks, tape recorders, balls and bikes. Items activated by light, air or touch, controlled by wobble, squeeze or thumb switches are gifts of Bourdon's hardworking hands and generous spirit.

Bernie Bourdon grew up in Montreal, the fourth of eight children in a traditional, pious Catholic family. Educated by Christian Brothers, Bourdon was "always good with my hands," he said.

After retirement from Northern Telecom, Bourdon, his wife Rita and son Steven moved to Florida in 1979 to enjoy a taste of Southern sunshine. Steven was 15 and Rita "was always cold in Montreal," remembered Bourdon. Her death in 1981 left him encumbered with a nine-room house, swimming pool, the trappings of material success and an empty, lonely heart.

"After her death I dedicated my life to Christ," he explained, prayerfully seeking guidance and direction.

Initially, Bourdon was led to pursue a vocation to the Religious life. In 1984, he traveled to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA, where he lived, prayed and worked with the Cistercians for a 60-day observership period.

At the time, "I felt called to become a monk," he said, but his Franciscan spiritual advisor counseled him to wait and continue to pray. While waiting and praying, he became increasingly involved with the homeless and helpless. He discerned that "the Lord wanted me to stay out and use the gifts he had given me."

Ultimately, Bourdon sold his Florida house and in 1986 moved to Georgia, where he sunk roots like a honeysuckle vine.

At his desk in the Tech-Able warehouse, Bourdon has an overhead light marked with a cross and praying hands.

"I call it my little cell, my monastery, my hermitage," he said. "I felt I could do more good here."

A parishioner at St. Pius X Church in Conyers, Bourdon lives out each day with both hands lifted in praise of God. Winner of an 11 Alive Community Service Award, the Governor's Award for Volunteer of the Year and a presidential citation in addition to his recent Kimberly-Clark honor, Bourdon receives public adulation with Pauline boldness.

"I accept this award in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," he told an audience of executives, celebrities and fellow award winners in Washington, D.C. March 28. Without Him, Bourdon said, this ministry would not happen.