Jul
11
By Lisa Gleinzer, Coordinator of Volunteers and Community Programs
In late May, a National Conference on Volunteer Resource Management was held here in Victoria hosted by the Association of Volunteer Resource Managers of British Columbia. The theme was "Professionalizing the Face of Volunteer Leadership" - a rich and varied topic to be sure, but many other topics and philosophies were discussed over the 3 day conference, including: the value, recognition, and contribution of volunteers. Volunteering speaks to the health of the community because when people feel valued, when people feel they are making a contribution, when people feel connected - their overall mental health is improved.
One of the concepts the keynote speaker talked about was valuing volunteers as time donors. All too often in our society volunteers are seen as "time-savers" but they are really "time-donors" and collectively we are lucky of enough to be the recipients of their donation. Their donation brings with it skills, talents, and abilities that complement organizations rather than simply saving time and that is a very important distinction.
Together with our partner, Capital City Volunteers (CCV), we are the fortunate recipients of approximately 350 time donors and we recognize the contribution that each one of them makes. These volunteers range in age from 15 years old to 96 years old. Volunteers are connected to everything we do here at JBCP and we could not provide the programs and services we do without the ongoing efforts of each and every one of them. Just for example: volunteers staff our Community Library, our Community Closet Thrift Store, help support family and youth drop-in programs, sort clothing and wash toys, bake, serve on our board of directors, cook, shop, research, garden, clean....the list is long and varied.
People volunteer for a variety of different reasons. Many volunteers come because they want to make a contribution to their community, some come to have a laugh, others come to see the friends they've made as result of volunteering. Some of them come initially to gain work experience or get their mandatory school volunteer hours. Whatever the reason they walk through our doors, the best outcome is to find the right fit for each person, because each person has a unique gift to bring to volunteering.
Both JBCP and CCV held annual general meetings in June, which is where our formal volunteer service recognition takes place. One volunteer, who takes a weekly shift in our Community Library, has been donating her time to JBCP for 30 years! Another volunteer, who makes soup (together with volunteers from one of the local Community Living Groups), has given her time for 20 years! We also have 4 volunteers who received service recognition for 15 years; 9 people who received service recognition for 10 years; and 20 people who received recognition for 5 years of service. We congratulate all of these volunteers and thank them for their dedication, commitment, and contributions.