The Okanagan Volunteer Fair will take place this Saturday 鈥� the perfect time to share your volunteering spirit and look for your opportunity to get involved.

There will be more than 60 organizations at Parkinson Recreation Centre, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., ready to chat with you about their programs and how you can make a difference.

You can start to get to know about these organizations in the Get Involved magazine we publish in partnership with the 91大黄鸭 Capital News.

You may have a copy in your newspaper, or download the digital copy at www.kcr.ca.

As part of the fair, we also offer a nourishing Volunteer Manager鈥檚 Breakfast which celebrates the role that the paid staff have in ensuring volunteers have a positive and fulfilling experience.

Volunteers rely on their managers and coordinators to ensure they鈥檙e properly trained and informed on an ongoing basis, are scheduled and working in an area that suits their skills and interests, and a variety of other things.

Most volunteer managers wear a variety of hats and all share the passion to support volunteers and their organization to meet its mission.

At this year鈥檚 breakfast, we have the pleasure of hearing from a peer in the industry Jason Bedell, who is the emergency support services supervisor with the 91大黄鸭 Fire Department, which coordinates the regional emergency plan.

Jason hails from Adelaide, Australia, and met his wife Ashley in a 鈥淎ustralian met a Canadian backpacker鈥� story.

They came back together to live and play at Big White Ski Resort.

Jason fell in love with 91大黄鸭 and the two made this their permanent home, expanding their family with two daughters Adelaide (Addy) and Matilda (Tilley).

Jason started with the City of 91大黄鸭 as a casual in the fleet department and saw it was an organization where he was valued and supported and where he could grow a successful career.

Jason will be speaking about his recent experience in the Emergency Operations Centre and we know he will be providing inspiring insight into the role of the volunteer manager and the wildfire crisis the Central Okanagan is still facing.

We asked him a few questions about how to get engaged as an Emergency Support Services volunteer and share these responses with you here.

KCR: What is your organization and how did you get started in your role?

Jason: My position is new for 2023, funded by the RDCO Emergency Plan, I manage Emergency Support Services (ESS) within the Regional District of Central Okanagan. ESS is a provincial program, administered locally following the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness policies and procedures. Having spent almost 20 years working in public safety in both Australia and Canada and for the last seven years working within the City of 91大黄鸭鈥檚 community safety department, moving to the 91大黄鸭 Fire Department felt like a natural progression.

KCR: Where do volunteers support your organization and what impact do they make?

Jason: We currently have about 50 Emergency Support Services volunteers within the regional district. ESS volunteers really do the heavy lifting, they respond to the needs of evacuees whether that is a single-family home fire at 2 a.m. or major incidents such as evacuations of entire neighbourhoods like we saw with the current McDougall Creek wildfire. ESS volunteers are some of the initial responders that evacuees will speak with during an evacuation, providing supports including accommodation, food and clothing.

KCR: How do you recruit volunteers? What training is involved?

Jason: A lot of our recruitment comes from word of mouth. We have quite the tight-knit ESS community who are extremely proud of the work they do in the community. There are five mandatory Justice Institute of British Columbia courses required to become a qualified ESS volunteer. These are free to pursue and can be taken at your own pace online. We hold in person training sessions once a month from September to June. These sessions can focus on everything from scenario-based sessions through to debriefing recent incidents. Check out our website to rdco.com/ess to learn more.

KCR: Please share about your recent experiences during the wildfire emergency. What stood out for you about your role and your volunteers?

Jason: The McDougall Creek wildfire was one of the most complex and intense incidents the RDCO ESS team has had to respond to, experiencing in excess of 10,000 homes being evacuated in a very short time frame. Volunteers were working extremely long hours, some finding themselves evacuated from their own homes, yet every morning the volunteers arrived ready and willing to open the reception centre with a caring smile on their face while providing compassionate support to the evacuees. Words cant describe how important ESS volunteers are to their community, managing at times difficult and emotional conversations with evacuees during highly stressful incidents, yet they remain steadfast, professional and diligent to their duties. Volunteering shows the true spirit of our region.

KCR: How do you look after your volunteers during a crisis?

Jason: Communication is key, listening to their experiences, what is working and sometimes more importantly what is not working are difficult conversations that need to be had regularly, and being a strong advocate for the volunteers is paramount as their supervisor. From little issues such as the early morning coffee being late through to ensuring their own mental well-being is being supported and prioritized, communication comes to the forefront in every aspect of a successful ESS deployment.

The recent crisis has highlighted the critical point that if you are wanting to help during a crisis, the best time to get engaged is before the crisis is there so that you are prepared, trained and ready to make a significant difference.

Check out the Okanagan Volunteer Fair on Saturday and look for your opportunity to be a volunteer.

If you are interested in sharing your volunteer or organizational news, contact Dorothee Birker at dorothee@kcr.ca.