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If volunteers are what make Lethbridge tick, then Volunteer Lethbridge is the mechanism behind it.
The Lethbridge volunteer resource centre celebrated its 25th year of operation on Oct. 27.
Things have changed a lot since its doors first opened.
“When I started, if anyone wanted to volunteer, they’d have to come to the office and have a volunteer referral interview,” said executive director Laurie Ruff, who has been with the organization for the past 19 years.
The volunteer would be placed with the most suitable member organizations, which back then numbered about 10 organizations. It has since expanded to more than 100 member organizations and countless volunteers.
Now, most hopeful volunteers get their information about organizations and volunteer opportunities from the www.volunteerlethbridge.com website. The organization offers a variety of different services including courses on board governance training, time-management programs plus communication skills, grant proposals and much more. It also acts as an advocate for volunteer organizations dealing with municipal, provincial and federal government departments, and provides a resource library for members and volunteers.
One of the important programs offered is the Leaders of Tomorrow, which encourages youth to volunteer by recognizing some of the most dedicated at a banquet in the spring. The program recognizes youth volunteers aged five to 24, said Chris Burton, Volunteer Lethbridge board member and committee chair. This year’s event featured 91 nominees in the four age categories (5-11, 12-15, 16-18 and 19-24) with seven chosen as Volunteer Excellence Award recipients. Nomination forms go out in January and the nominees are announced in March. Up to eight youth are recognized for their excellence, though all the nominees receive a certificate.
“We’ve been encouraging youth to volunteer. You nominate youth for their volunteer work,” Burton said.
Burton finds the resource centre to be invaluable for programs such as Leaders of Tomorrow.
Another big accomplishment by Volunteer Lethbridge is streamlining the police records check procedure.
“We’ve helped reduce the fees being charged for police records checks, so volunteer organizations can get that done that much faster,” Burton said.
Good volunteers are worth their weight in gold to a lot of organizations.
“Volunteers are absolutely essential,” she said.
In Alberta alone, an estimated 1.2 million volunteers contribute more than 214 million hours of community service each year, roughly the equivalent of 112,000 full-time jobs. They produce an economic impact estimated at $9.6 billion annually.
Volunteers range in age from youths to senior citizens and they assist their communities in many ways. They coach and officiate youth sports, work with elderly citizens and do fundraising for various non-profit organizations. They help children and adults improve their literacy skills. They provide first-aid services at public events. They lend their time at tourist attractions and volunteer at events such as the annual New Year’s Eve Family Fest.
Figures from the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participation show that fundraising is the most common task for volunteers, with 50 per cent of them involved in this capacity. Forty-nine per cent of volunteers are involved in organizing or supervising events, while 37 per cent of volunteers serve on committees or boards. Thirty-six per cent of volunteers help out by teaching or mentoring.
“Every one of these organizations requires volunteers to get the programming they provide done.”
Burton said volunteerism is a generational thing. If parents volunteer, their children are more likely, too.
That is the case of George Andrew, who is also part of the Leaders of Tomorrow program as well as with Servus Credit Union, one of the many corporate sponsors, who help Volunteer Lethbridge work.
“I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan. My parents trained me early that volunteering is essential to a strong community,” he said.
He has been involved with Volunteer Lethbridge for four years as a volunteer and board member. He’s been the fundraising chair for Volunteer Lethbridge and several other organizations. One of the programs he volunteers with is Project Paintbrush, which has volunteers paint the houses and fences of those who are mentally or physically unable to do it themselves, or can not afford to do it.
“Afterward they have a real sense of pride because they have what looks like a new house or garage or fence,” he said.
The program, in its ninth year, does between four to six projects every summer and has about 25 volunteers working on each one.
Eileen Coghill, who has retired after six years with Volunteer Lethbridge as volunteer co-ordinator, most enjoyed connecting the right volunteer with the right organizations.
“When I moved to Lethbridge six years ago, I was looking for an opportunity to volunteer,” she said, adding that she quickly found Volunteer Lethbridge and applied.
“They gave me the opportunity to do all the things I was looking for,” she continued.
“I didn’t realize how much a lot of these organizations rely on volunteers. They would have to close their doors without volunteers.” |
