National Volunteer Week is set to be celebrated in Grande Prairie from April 24th to 30th, honouring volunteers for their contributions.
Grande Prairie Regional Association of Volunteer Organizations Executive Director Carol-Anne Pasemko says that volunteers are a vital part of the local community.
“When you look at the amount of hours volunteers put into our community and the work that they do, you wouldn’t have the quality of life that we have if it wasn’t for them. There are volunteers for sports teams, church groups, or even health and welfare. A lot of these organizations have a volunteer board of directors. Without those volunteers, people wouldn’t be able to those services,” she explains.
“Most people think volunteers are at the soup kitchen or the shelter and while that’s true, they’re actually everywhere. We want to recognize all these people for their efforts. That can be done in so many ways, if you know someone who volunteers a lot of their time, thank them in your own way and tell them you appreciate what they do for you and others.”
Pasemko says that celebration boxes are available for different agencies hosting their own celebration.
“Inside that box are suggested ideas and things they can do to celebrate, promote their own agencies, and what their volunteers do. We have also included some treats in there. They can pick these up at our office or at the Centre for Tourism at Centre 2000. We are asking that all the different organizations post their celebrations on social media and we will also share that on our social media pages for everyone to see,” she says.
30 organizations will be at the non-profit/charitable sector business showcase, hosted by the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce to speak about their contributions to the community on April 28th.
Pasemko adds that a formal ceremony with awards for Grande Prairie volunteers is planned for International Volunteer Day, which falls on December 5th.