With National Volunteer Week (NVW) only a few sleeps away, the Read Right Society (RRS) wants to show their appreciation for all the volunteers who’ve given back to Hope.
Taking place on April 17, RRS is planning two events — a Volunteer Appreciation Barbecue and a Square Dance — in honour of Hope’s volunteers and the work they’ve done for the community. Both events are free to the public and all are welcome to join, regardless of whether they’ve volunteered before.
“Every National Volunteer Week has a theme and this year its ‘every moment matters’,” said Roz Royce, the community volunteer coordinator for RSS. “And I think its (the theme) just really spotlighting every moment that a volunteer gives to whatever role that they’re in.
“And what we want to do, because Hope has so many amazing volunteers, we want to really show our appreciation.”
From 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., volunteers and their loved ones will be able to attend the barbecue and enjoy plenty of food and fun music in the Northwest Harvest Church parking lot, located at 888 3rd Ave.
Later, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., people are welcome to join RSS for square dancing taking place at Christ Church Hope National Historic Site, in the upstairs hall. Coffee and tea will be provided for the event.
According to Royce, in addition to showing RSS’s appreciation to volunteers, the events are also meant to help Hope volunteers connect with each other and other community members. It is also Royce’s hope that meeting and hearing the stories of current volunteers will encourage others to become volunteers themselves.
“There’s so many benefits to volunteering,” she said. “There are a lot of people out there that volunteer. Some very consistently, and some just here and there. It all helps. And it all really matters.”
Established in 2008, RSS is a non-profit in Hope that, according to their website, “promotes life skill literacy programs that acknowledge people’s needs and work together to teach those skills and empower others to fulfill those needs.” Their goals include providing literary programs to the community and operating educational centres that deliver literacy training. This is done through operating the Swetexel Daycare & Preschool Social Enterprise.
This year, NVW is taking place from April 14 to April 20. Officially 75 years old, NVW was originally a campaign to encourage women to enlist for wartime volunteer service. Over time, the purpose of the campaign changed to instead focus on all volunteers and the contributions they’ve made to bettering their communities.
READ MORE: Inge and Gordon Gray named as this year’s winners of the Hope Heart Hero Award
@KemoneMoodley
kemone.moodley@hopestandard.com
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