The First Chestermere Scouts are in urgent need of more volunteers this fall.
“We’re looking for volunteers of all sorts,” said Group Commissioner Joan Gellatly.
They are always looking for volunteers but the biggest need is for leaders for the youngest group, Beaver Scouts which is for kids aged 5-7 years old.
“I’m definitely looking for Beaver Scout volunteers to work with the little ones,” she said.
Currently the Beaver program is on hold due to the lack of volunteers. There is a waiting list of kids wanting to join.
“This is the first year I haven’t been able to run a Beaver Scouts program,” said Gellatly.
Volunteering with scouts is a great learning and teaching experience she said.
“It’s fun, its challenging,” said Gellatly, “It’s great working with the youth”.
“It’s great to see how kids grow and the excitement that they bring…you kind of feed off of that,” she said.
There is the opportunity to work with and teach children in a non-formal environment while having fun.
The goal of the Scouts is to help the kids develop into well rounded individuals in the community.
“I think Scouts is an amazing program,” she said.
Most volunteers also find that they learn a lot from their scouts too.
“They’re teaching us,” she said.
For long time volunteers Gellatly said it can be exciting and a lot of fun to watch the kids grow and mature in the Scouts organization.
Other programs that need volunteers include the Venturer and Rover Scouts. These programs are for 15-17 years and 18-26 years of age respectively and have never been run in Chestermere before.
“It would be nice to try and get that off the ground,” she said.
The group committee also has vacancies, needing positions such as secretary filled.
There is no experience required to volunteer with the Scouts. Training and support resources are provided.
“No experience is necessary,” said Gellatly, “basically you want to have some fun working…with the kids.”
One of the new leaders this year had no experience working with youth and no kids of his own.
“He just wanted to join to give back to the community,” she said.
There are several screening steps that all potential volunteers go through. They are interviewed by the Scouts group committee, must provide references, and have to pass a police background check that includes the vulnerable sector check.
To volunteer either e-mail Gellatly at joangellatly@gmail.com or go to www.scouts.ca.
