This week, across Canada, we celebrate the backbone of every community, every service organization, every minor sports team and every major event with National Volunteer Week, set for April 14-20.
There are hundreds of thousands of volunteers across Canada, and here in Saskatchewan, this province is celebrated and recognized as having the most volunteers per capita of any region in the nation.
It is fitting, then, that this year’s recipients of the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal were just presented with their honours this week.
The ironic thing is, the vast majority of volunteers will tell you, they don’t do it for medals or accolades or public recognition – they do it simply because they want to give back to their community.
They do it so the children of their neighbourhood will have a ball or hockey team to play on, and play facilities to enjoy.
They do it so that organizations like the Weyburn Agricultural Society, the Young Fellows Club or the Weyburn Rotary Club can help provide programs and services and events for the community at large to enjoy.
This is not to say we shouldn’t acknowledge and thank our volunteers – we absolutely should, even if they would rather toil in obscurity in the background of our many events and programs.
If you know of a volunteer, such as a friend or a family member who tirelessly gives of their time and efforts to help out, then you should thank them personally, even if no one else does. They need to know that people really do appreciate what they do.
It makes sense that volunteers will tell you, they don’t do all this for the recognition. They do it because they love their community, their neighbourhood, or they love children and want to see them enjoy life.
When we do observe a national week of celebration like this, the hope is that people in the community will be inspired and encouraged to also step forward and help out somewhere in their area, or with a service club or organization. Some of these volunteer groups were hit hard by the pandemic, and had to fold up.
This ought not to be happening, especially now when our cities, towns and villages are under inflationary pressure and people are struggling to make ends meet. These groups and clubs are out there trying to make a difference and help out when so many are having a hard time.
To help ensure our service clubs stay alive and continue to be a positive support of our communities, they need people who are willing to step up and volunteer, whether it’s for the Salvation Army, or the Rotary Club, a minor ball team or the local school.
