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International Volunteer Day - December 5

On December 5th, The BC Network of the Canada Volunteerism Initiative, Volunteer Vancouver, Vancouver Foundation & United Way of the Lower Mainland are hosting an interactive dialogue to mark International Volunteer Day.

Special Guests include:

Michael Hall, Imagine Canada
Faye Wightman, Vancouver Foundation
Miranda Lam & Colleen Kelly, The BC Network of the Canada Volunteerism Initiative & Volunteer Vancouver

For more information, click here.

Looking for a global perspective on International Volunteer Day? Visit the World Volunteer Web for news from around the world.

 

BC Highlights/The 2004 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering, and Participating

The Best Gift: Your Time and Talent... all year long

One of the great things about the holiday season is that it reminds people to help others. One of the bad things about this gift-giving season is that sometimes, people help others only during the holidays and neglect making volunteer work a priority for the rest of the year.

Community organizations are inundated with people offering their services to volunteer at Christmas. The intent is admirable, but these organizations often need more help later on in the year.

Volunteer Vancouver recommends these tips for giving the gift of your time and talent, and ensuring you remember your new year’s resolution come August:

  1. Find your passion:  Is it Literacy? Animals? Dying with dignity? Planting trees? Identifying a cause, an idea or a community organization is always the place to start. It is important that you know your passion, and then offer your time and talent to the organization that works in this area.
  2. Follow it up with a phone call to your organization of choice and ask them what their needs are for the coming year: Be prepared to take on any training needed for the work and be sure to offer your career skills. Many people still regard volunteer work as stuffing envelopes and ladling soup, whereas Volunteer Vancouver and its member organizations are diligently working to redefine the term ‘volunteering’ to ensure it includes meaningful engagements. This means, for example, involving today’s highly skilled volunteer workforce to help shape an organization’s financial, marketing, technology or human resources plans.
  3. Log onto www.iwillvolunteer.ca: The spirit of giving that shines brightly in December can often drown in the January rain. The I Will Volunteer Website is there to help. Here you can inspire others by sharing your personal volunteering stories, or register your intent to volunteer in the coming year. Don’t forget it does not always have to be with a formal organization. Volunteering also includes driving a neighbour to a doctor’s appointment, helping at your school or on the soccer field, or cleaning up the local park. I Will Volunteer will also direct you to a comprehensive list of places to search for volunteer opportunities including www.govolunteer.ca, www.boardmatch.org, and a directory of Volunteer Centres in BC.

Thank you for caring enough to investigate the new spirit of giving – the most precious gift of your time and talent!    

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Colleen Kelly is the Executive Director of Volunteer Vancouver. The mission of Volunteer Vancouver is to inspire and build leadership in the voluntary sector. For more information, please visit www.volunteervancouver.ca or call 604.875.9144