|
Volunteers make the town go ’round, which is why the community takes the time during National Volunteer Week, April 10-16, to recognize the volunteers and everything they contribute.
“Volunteers are crucially important. They make a lot of the services we offer possible. They are what makes our services work,” said Christina Boese, communications co-ordinator for Volunteer Lethbridge.
While she does not know the exact number of volunteers there are in Lethbridge, she knows close to 100 organizations work with Volunteer Lethbridge, and all of them need volunteers.
“Over 52 per cent of Albertans volunteer and there are 12.5-million volunteers in Canada,” she said.
The volunteer opportunities vary.
“Everything from working with children to working with animals. There is working with computers and technology and working in hospitals, working in seniors’ homes. Anything you can think of, we can pretty much offer you a volunteer opportunity,” she continued.
Annabree Fairweather, volunteer co-ordinator for the Interfaith Food Bank Society, says volunteers are the “lifeblood of our organization.”
“If we didn’t have them,” she said, “we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
Fairweather is responsible for co-ordinating the schedules and assigning duties to 40 regular volunteers and, during the rush seasons such as Christmas, a lot more.
With the organization’s recent move across the street last year into larger premises at 1103 3 Ave. N., the bulk of the 11,423 hours the volunteers logged last year was spent making the move.
“It’s pretty incredible. We couldn’t have done the move without them,” she said.
In 2010, Interfaith volunteers filled 7,575 hampers and in the process helped out 10,499 adults and 8,097 children. The expanded location means a lot more storage space for food donations for a variety of sources such as grocery stores, the research station, and individuals, as well as a variety of different spaces for the different kinds of hampers, including separate categories for all ages of infants.
Volunteers are put to work in a variety of capacities from day-to-day operation, fundraising and governance or serving on the volunteer board of directors.
“We have different volunteers from all areas of the community. We have a lot of students from the local high school especially Catholic Central, who must complete 40 hours of volunteer hours to graduate. We also have a lot of people who are recently retired as well as disabled people who can’t work, but still have a lot of time and energy to give. Those are our people,” Fairweather said.
The Boys & Girls Club of Lethbridge & District, which offers a variety of after school and summer programs for children and teens, also depend on the generosity of others’ time.
“They’re absolutely essential,” Rachael Hathorn, manager of the club’s children’s services, said of volunteers. She utilizes between five to 15 volunteers to run programming for children. While they have a lot of volunteers during the school year, mostly university and college students, they need a lot more during the summer when the club works with more children.
“When school is out, we really feel it,” she said.
Doug Boehme, a Lethbridge College student, has volunteered with the Boys & Girls Club since January.
“I just love working with kids. I come from a big family of over 50 nieces and nephews, he said.
His favourite part of volunteering is running around with the kids in the gym.
“The best time is where we’re in the gym. That’s where I get all of my exercise,” he continued.
“I like playing hockey with them and making sure they have fun and are safe.”
The work is unpaid, but for Boehme, working with the children has its own rewards.
“Getting to play with the kids is all I need,” he said.
University of Lethbridge student Krissie Eberhart started volunteering with the Boys & Girls Club in February because she wanted to see if working with children was the right career path. She plans on obtaining her education degree. She enjoyed volunteering with the club so much that she is starting up a volunteer club at the university to teach other students about all the ways to volunteer.
“No matter what you are interested in, there is a way to volunteer,” the 23-year-old said.
She added volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club has allowed her to dabble in a variety of activities as the boys and girls involved enjoy several different categories of activities including gym, craft and science.
“It’s been a good experience,” she said.
“I show up every Wednesday and it is always different.”
Before lending a hand with the Boys & Girls Club, Eberhart hadn’t done a lot of volunteer work, other than working with a couple of clubs on campus and Amnesty International.
“I think volunteering is a really good way to get experience,” she said. “There are lots of opportunities to volunteer.”
The Galt Museum & Archives finds itself in an enviable situation when it comes to volunteers: It has too many.
The Galt placed a freeze on volunteers until May.
“The freeze is a good situation and a bad situation,” laughed Lori Harasem, the Galt’s special events and volunteer co-ordinator. “For general positions, we’re full; we’re at capacity. I’m on a lot of boards though so when people phone excited to help out, I act as a referral, sending them to other groups that need help.”
With the Galt’s busy summer season around the corner, it is about to lift its volunteer freeze next month.
“We bring in more people over the summer because a lot of our regular volunteers take the summer off and we have more visitors then,” she said.
Galt Museum & Archives volunteers range in age from 14-80. Some are students doing volunteer work for credit, while others are retired individuals, groups (for special events), and those who have time and interest that fits into the Galt’s current volunteer needs.
Harasem is quick to credit the contribution of volunteers, saying there is “no way this museum could offer what it does without volunteers.”
In 2010, more than 250 individuals donated 12,074 hours to the museum. If those hours were paid labour, the wages would be $205,269.05, Harasem said.
“And we know that's not all the hours volunteered in 2010 because there are people who forget to sign in so that's reported hours so our actual is higher.”
The Galt was the only Alberta organization south of Calgary to participate in Disney Parks’ “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” promotion. In exchange for performing a day of volunteer service at a participating organization in 2010, volunteers were given a free, one-day admission ticket to a Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort theme park. The promotion exceeded Disney’s expectations. It was scheduled to run until Dec. 15, 2010 but the one-million passes were handed out in two months. The promo attracted volunteers to the Galt from as far away as Saskatchewan and Montana, Harasem said.
“We’re so appreciative of the community thinking of us and the museum couldn’t survive without all sorts of support, including people,” Harasem said. “We appreciate them whether they’re here once a year or weekly throughout the year. We really try to show our appreciation throughout the year but National Volunteer Week is the best opportunity to do that.”
|
