Volunteer Nanaimo is celebrating its 40th year and held its annual volunteer luncheon April 11 during National Volunteer Week.
The 24th annual volunteer appreciation luncheon saw 340 volunteers from around the community enjoy a celebration of all they do for our community. Wellington and Dover Bay secondary schools provided 42 volunteer youths to serve the three-course lunch. Those in attendance got into the ‘hats off to volunteers’ theme and came in a fine array of hats.
Executive director Marjorie Driscoll, celebrating 25 years in her position with Volunteer Nanaimo, received special recognition.
Editorial: Volunteers lift up our community in many ways
National Volunteer Week earlier this month was a time to celebrate and thank Canada’s 12.7 million volunteers.
This year’s National Volunteer Week theme was ‘the Volunteer Factor – Lifting Communities’ and it’s apt, as volunteers do lift up Nanaimo.
We’re fortunate to play host to so many, and have such a variety, of organizations, clubs, associations, teams, groups and special events – volunteerism takes a lot of forms here. Volunteers help organize community events, fundraise for important causes, tidy up our natural surroundings, help with safety initiatives, coach, educate and engage our children and youths, and much, much more. They do it for the love and betterment of their communities.
It’s cliché, but it’s said volunteers are the lifeblood of a community, and that holds true here. So many organizations would likely cease to exist, or wouldn’t be able function the way they do, without volunteers, and we wouldn’t have much of the community vitality we enjoy.
At the moment, for example, there’s a need for people to help with the Walk for Alzheimer’s, the Park Avenue Community School Fun Fair, the Walk So Kids Can Talk event for Kids Help Phone, the Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival and more. (Contact Volunteer Nanaimo at 250-758-7121 or visit www.volunteernanaimo.ca for information.)
Nanaimo asks a lot of its volunteers, and appreciates all they do to lift our community. The more helping hands, the higher we can go.