Pacoima resident and volunteer Thelma Baker celebrated her 71st birthday on Sunday, Feb. 18.

Baker is a volunteer at the Alicia Broadus-Duncan Multipurpose Senior Center in Pacoima. She volunteers five days a week at the senior center, signing people in, working in the kitchen and preparing snacks.

She says she likes to volunteer because she is used to a fast pace, having worked two 40-hour week jobs in her younger days. And she refuses to be a wallflower.

"I can't just start sitting at home," Baker said. "I'm happy volunteering."

She has lived in Pacoima since 1997, when she moved in with her daughter Karen.

Remarkably, Baker has survived two cancers, colon and vaginal. She considers herself fortunate that she has lived as long as she has.

"I'm thankful that I've made it to 71," Baker said.

Baker, born and raised in the Bronx, New York, moved to the San Fernando Valley with her parents in 1948.

Looking back, she does not miss the East Coast. She said it was too cold for her.

"I don't like the snow," Baker said.