Today, the spotlight is on Smoky River; a municipality located in Northwestern Alberta. We would like to introduce Anita from the Smoky River FCSS, who has graciously answered our questions about Smoky River, National Volunteer Week, and more! Get to know Anita Anita is a Community Program Coordinator for the Smoky River FCSS. She believes…
Re-imagining Volunteerism: Bridging the Gap Between Formal Service and Community Care Our friends from InWithForward have written this informative post about the focus of (Re)Engaged and the ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ of using a generative research approach to understand how we may re-imagine volunteerism to bridge the gap between formal volunteering and informal volunteering. Volunteerism…
Watch an interview with IWF’s Ivy Staker and VA’s Andy Alvarez as they dive into the rich history of community contribution, how things have shifted over time, and what it means for volunteerism today. What does it mean to be a volunteer? When you think of volunteering today, you probably conjure up images of organizations,…
As volunteers, our first instinct is to focus on how we can help. We want to be good neighbours and support our community through a crisis, but it is a bit more difficult now as we’re working to flatten the curve. In this blog, Daniela Seiferling from Volunteer Alberta and Ilya Ushakov from ECVO share examples of…
As COVID-19 has reached pandemic levels and physical distancing has become the best defence to stop the spread, many nonprofits have suspended volunteer recruitment efforts, modified frontline service delivery, or are searching for new ways to recruit or engage volunteers. We all have a role to play in flattening the curve, and, while the process…
As volunteer engagement specialists, it’s essential to recognize and respond to trends. Understanding who the volunteers are in the community and what types of opportunities they’re interested in helps engage and find volunteers in the current climate. This doesn’t change in a pandemic. In fact, we need to be more responsive and open to change…
“What do you want to do when you graduate?” September means a few things: green leaves and grass begin turning yellow and gold, the wind is a little crisper, pumpkin-spiced drinks are back, and of course, students are back in school. As a recent grad, I reflect on my post-secondary and employment journey often. The…