To acknowledge their rippling effect throughout the community, the South Okanagan Similkameen Volunteer Centre will be heavily embracing National Volunteer Week, which runs until April 18.
“National Volunteer Week is one of the small ways that we can identify volunteering as significant and important to each community,” said Sandra Dean, member service co-ordinator at the South Okanagan Similkameen Volunteer Centre.
The volunteer centre launched in 2010, and has now has around 700 registered members. There has always been a strong volunteer force in the Okanagan, Dean said, but the network was made much stronger by the advent of the organization, which communicates the local volunteering opportunities among those registered through the database.
“This has provided some structure to the non-profit area, and although there were well-known events attracting big numbers of volunteers, smaller ones were struggling to get the word out,” Dean said.
Anybody interested in volunteering is encouraged to sign up, and there is no obligation to commit to anything — they’ll simply be informed of opportunities to help out around the South Okanagan.
The designated week “is an annual formal recognition of the significant ripple effect volunteers have on communities and the country as a whole,” reads a press release from the local volunteer centre. “Healthy and caring communities can be measured in quantity and quality by their volunteer contribution.”
The release says that the selfless act of volunteering is considered to be a gift by the people who share their time.
More specifically, the release commends local volunteer Carrie Anne McAlpine, who lends her time to support seniors who have trouble with memory.
“Each week, she listens to their repeated stories and relives their joy in telling these stories,” said the release. “The trust and capacity for joy, even though in the depths of dementia, helps Carrie Ann feel grounded and more of the larger whole of a caring community. Being a volunteer has helped her be a better person overall and changed her views on the importance of the simple things in life ... like going on a car trip or shopping for groceries.”
The organization aims to only involve itself with “neutral” causes, and has a policy against promoting political or religious activities.
There are currently 30 member organizations which have their volunteer needs relayed regularly through the local volunteer centre. The centre also recruits volunteers for one-time and occasional events.
“There might be a volunteer that’s new to the community – retirees, students, people wanting to get into it, and they don’t know where to start,” she said. “They come to us and we can provide them a range of opportunities.”
To commemorate the week in Penticton, the local volunteer centre, along with eight other related organizations, are having a volunteer appreciation tea on April 16 between 2 and 4 p.m. at Orchard House on 157 Orchard Ave.
All members are invited to participate. There’s no cost to register as a volunteer, and it can be done online at www.volunteercentre.info.