Volunteering

I've dabbled around volunteering for the odd thing, including the Vancouver International Dragon Boat Festival (now known as the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival), Destination Imagination or First Lego League tournaments, and the Vancouver Food Bank. Most of these where one day commitments, because they were fun, or in the case of the food bank, a work event.

This year I decided on two larger volunteer commitments. The first is I'm volunteering as an instructor with Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports. I paid my $35 membership to the Disable Skiers Association of BC
and then completed a weekend long course to become a certified CADS Level 1 ski instructor. For the next 8 weeks, I'll be working with a student who was born with a rare genetic disorder called GLUT 1 deficiency. I'm both excited and nervous. I'll definitely be writing more about VASS in the future as this association has really inspired me.

The second commitment I've made is to volunteer for the 2010 winter Olympics. I've attended the first 3 hr training session. Those that I met in the group of 30 seemed very like-minded. We either loved sports, loved to be part of a large, positive event, wanted to be more involved as a spectator. If you want to get away from the cynicism that surrounds some of the 2010 games, go volunteer, you'll never meet a more positive group of people. One of the most inspirational stories I heard was from a competitive gymnast, who said it would be the closest she would ever get to the podium, but she wanted to help others get there. Another person said, "How could you live here and NOT get involved?"

If you are interested in volunteering and need some ideas try the following sites:
www.volunteer.ca list of volunteer centers (connecting volunteers with organizations that need volunteers)
www.volweb.ca created by 2010 Legacies Now to encourage volunteerism and increase access to volunteer opportunities across Canada
www.volunteer.bc.ca list of volunteer centers (connecting volunteers with organizations that need volunteers)

You can also think about charities you've supported or events that you've attended. Chances are they would love to have more volunteers.