This past weekend we had the pleasure of hosting the Okanagan Volunteer Fair with the support of our amazing sponsors, the participating organizations (and their volunteers!), our event volunteers and the community.
More than 700 people attended the fair and made it a huge success.
Filled with the glow of community spirit and excitement of having celebrated to voluntary sector, I want to share the Salute to the Volunteers I gave at the Civic Awards this year because the sentiments bear repeating. I still feel now, as I did then, that we need to celebrate the impact volunteers make every day by sharing a most valuable resource 鈥� their time.
Volunteers all willingly share their time and lives to make the world a better place. And day by day, action by action, deed by good deed, they make a difference. They make an impact that reverberates around the community and enriches thousands and thousands of lives.
The theme for National Volunteer Appreciation this year is 鈥榁olunteers weave us together鈥欌�nd truly I cannot think of a better analogy.
When you weave things together we take a single strand of something, intertwine it, connect it and lace it together to create a whole new entity.
It may be a vessel that holds things together or a tapestry that tells stories.
When we weave individual strands together we create a new fabric 鈥� and when volunteers weave us together, they create a social fabric that supports, connects and holds our community together.
It is a social fabric there to catch people in its safety net. I think about the hundreds and hundreds of hours donated by volunteers to make sure they can answer the call when someone calls the crisis line, or is there to be a friendly helper at hospitals and care homes. Volunteers are needed to run shelters for those who are experiencing homelessness and volunteering can often be a way back for those living with trauma and addiction because they are able to heal, finally connected in a meaningful way to the society they are meant to be a part of.
It is a social fabric that celebrates with us at festivals and events. Providing guidance and information and making our community more livable and richer.
I am thinking about incredible organizations that work with youth or those with diverse abilities to connect them to opportunities and nature.
It is a social fabric that makes people fundraise critical dollars to run programs or provide direct support to people in need.
It is a social fabric that takes up people鈥檚 passion and unites them to bring about change in things like diversity, inclusion and social justice.
The beauty of the weave is that every small piece truly matters, every individual input builds a fabric, builds vessels, builds community.
When we lose a thread in woven material, what happens? It starts to unravel. Let鈥檚 think about that 鈥� when we lose a thread, our fabric literally starts to unravel.
God forbid, but what would happen if we lost volunteers and the connections they weave. How would your life be impacted?
Consider the volunteers at your children鈥檚 or grandchildren鈥檚 schools or sports fields.
What about the legion of volunteers helping to make the creative sector viable. What music, what art are we enjoying without the docents, the ushers and the backstage set designers to bring the stage to life?
What about the boards of non-profit organizations. Who would provide the governance and leadership if we didn鈥檛 have volunteer directors?
If you have had a shuddering moment thinking about what happens, if we lose the volunteers that connect us together鈥lease take a moment today to thank the volunteers in your circle, acknowledging the integral role they play in creating our social fabric
If you are interested in sharing your volunteer or organizational news, contact Dorothee Birker at dorothee@kcr.ca.
