At the Jazz Fest last weekend I tried to get around to as many events as I could and was astounded by the number of orange shirts I saw. The orange shirts were the volunteers and it reminded me how much this community relies on them.
It’s something we often take for granted in an area basically run on volunteer labour. We may forget these people could be at home doing chores around the house or working at a paying job. Look on page 36 and you’ll find dozens of organizations operated by people like you and me who freely donate their time in order to make this a better place to live.
The Jazz Fest needs upwards of 100 volunteers to make it run smoothly. Volunteers are called upon to sell tickets and t-shirts, set up chairs, control traffic and organize the event before it even takes place. The Fall Faire is the same. So are the Blues Festival and May Day.
We now have three volunteer fire departments — men and women who donate their time every week to train in case something bad happens. Then there are the countless non-profit societies and volunteer boards that administer seniors’ housing, our health centre, our water supply, our pool — all functions usually administered by paid councils in larger towns.
Look closer and you’ll see that it’s truly staggering how much of our community operations are handled by volunteer labour. But it’s also scary because many of these groups desperately need more help and the only problem with relying on the efforts of volunteers is the danger of collapse if people burn out or leave. It’s a constant struggle to find new help to replace them and many people in this community have been doing much more than their share for a long time.
I would estimate that a large percentage of the people I see out volunteering these days are relative newcomers to the area. They’re people who want to meet new people and have an urge to help their new community. It bodes well for our future.
Next time you attend an event make a point of trying to identify the volunteers. Then go and thank them.
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