Organizations and communities thrive on the willingness and giving spirit of volunteers. If you’ve ever been a part of an organization that has volunteers, you will know that volunteers are quite often the success of the organization.
By definition, “volunteering is renowned for skill development, and is often intended to promote goodness or to improve human quality of life” – and if you have ever volunteered, you’ll know that it feels pretty darn good too.
April 10 to April 16, 2016 was National Volunteer Week (NVW), a time to celebrate and thank Canada’s 12.7 million volunteers. This year marks the 13th consecutive year that Volunteer Canada and Investors Group have partnered to deliver the NVW campaign.
On Saturday April 16th at the Yacht Club, Chestermere Community Services held their Annual Volunteer Appreciation Event for all volunteers in Chestermere and SE Rocky View. “We recognize that volunteers are the roots of strong communities and appreciate all the tremendous effort and commitment each and everyone one of them have made this past year. From setting up at community events, responding to help a neighbour during the July floods, to organizing community members to help support a cause – we are so thankful for all the volunteers that help make our communities a better place to live”, explained event organizers.
Chestermere has always been full of amazingly generous volunteers, and nothing showed that more that this past June when we saw a remarkable amount of volunteer efforts come together during the disastrous flooding that occurred.
Chestermere-Rocky View MLA Leela Aheer spoke at the event saying, “I’ve been out here since 1976 and this entire community has been built on volunteerism. My mom, when I was a small child, got my fundraising days started early in my life with my mom having me join her and I have done the same with my children. When you look in a room this small, you look around and you recognize everybody from some function or another. There are certain people that you live with at these events every single week – over and over and over again. It is such a privilege to be able to thank all of you for being here. To thank you for the work that you do. For your input for making our city better and for touching so many people around you. You probably don’t even realize the impact that you have with the people around you and the impact that you have in bringing the community together. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts”.
Special Acknowledgments for the organizing of the event went to:
* Grant funding for National Volunteer Week is provided by the Government of Alberta and distributed by Volunteer Alberta.
* Funding was matched by Community Services.
* Waiting Room Cafe for donating refreshments.
* Chestermere Public Library for board games.
Mayor Patricia Matthews added, “You should all know that we truly haven’t thanked you enough individually but today we thank you as a group and as huge contributors to our community. Know that we all recognize the heart and soul that you put in to making sure Chestermere is better and that Chestermere is the place we want to call home. We couldn’t do it without you – thank you again for all your contributions. Chestermere wouldn’t be the place it is with every single one of you”.
