A dictionary definition of a volunteer reads: a person who performs or offers to perform a service voluntarily. When we think of the word volunteer, many other words come to mind - compassionate, giving, dedicated, committed, helpful, caring, amazing, passionate and needed.
There are probably many more words, but we think you get the picture.
National Volunteer Week, April 21 to 27, is an opportunity to reflect on the impact volunteerism has on our community and to thank the hundreds of people who give their time on a daily basis to enrich our lives and make our community a better place.
Without volunteers, we could not function in our daily lives. Here on the Sunshine Coast there are more than 430 non-profit organizations that rely on the thousands of hours that volunteers give freely to offer the services we all enjoy.
Think about all our amateur sports, arts and service groups, like Rotary Clubs, the Lions Clubs, our churches and Royal Canadian Legions. Then there's our emergency services, our firefighters, search and rescue, both on land and water, and the many who sit on committees, boards and associations to lobby for change, to fundraise for projects to simply help get things done.
The past few weeks we have been celebrating the opening of a renovated St. Mary's Hospital. The auxiliary volunteers alone number around 470, and they contributed a staggering 62,000 hours of service in our community last year.
The volunteers did everything from knitting clothing for newborn babies to helping provide cheer and comfort to residents in our care homes and operating the loan cupboard and hospital gift store. They have played a major role in the fundraising efforts for the hospital. The accomplishments of the dedicated auxiliary members are simply amazing.
Then we have the all the volunteers who run programs like meals on wheels, volunteer shopping and the telephone tree - all programs run through Vancouver Coastal Health.
Cathy Smider, who is the Sunshine Coast Volunteer Centre co-ordinator, has the daunting task of keeping track of all the non-profit organizations on the Coast and helping refer volunteers to the worthy organizations.
Volunteers are essential to a vital, healthy community, she mused this week, and we couldn't agree more. Just stop and think about all the programs and services that are run by volunteers. Without people giving of their time, our community would simply be lost. So if you know someone who volunteers in this community, stop and thank them for all they do. The power of volunteerism is all around us - and we are grateful it is.
