Celebrating Volunteers

“I love what I do.”

“I am extremely grateful for this opportunity.”

“I have learned so many new things.”

“I am excited to help another person achieve their goals.”

“I have gotten to know many incredible people.”

“I am able to share the skills that I have.”

… these are all comments that I have heard from Community Adult Learning Program's amazing volunteers. These comments reflect the passion that they have for their work.

National Volunteer Week

This year, National Volunteer Week is April 16 - 22, 2023 and the theme is “Volunteering Weaves Us Together.”

This theme beautifully reflects what we experience at CALPs around Alberta.

 
Volunteers weave their skills in many ways:

- by being a tutor
- helping out around the office
- posting on social media
- mentoring staff
- sharing messages at community events
- being Board Members

Community Adult Learning Program Volunteers

Recently I had the opportunity to visit with Community Adult Learning Program's in the West Region. During these visits, I had the privilege of talking with a few volunteer tutors as they shared their thoughts on volunteering at their local Community Adult Learning Program (CALP). Here's what they said...

The Spirit of Volunteerism

Donna Brinkworth is an Ojibwe or Woodlands artist in Edmonton. Donna captured the spirit of volunteerism in a beautiful painting she created. Here she explains the meaning behind this work of art:

Want to learn more about finding and working with volunteers?

If you would like some ideas on finding and working with volunteers, here are some resources on the CALP Portal:

- Why Tutoring? (blog) https://calp.ca/blog/why-tutoring.htm This blog includes the perspective of a tutor and several links to resources on the portal.

- Volunteer Tutor Program Operations (e-Learning) https://calp.ca/e-learning/volunteer-tutor-program-operations.htm

- Working with Volunteers: Your Greatest Partner (e-Learning) https://calp.ca/e-learning/working-with-volunteers-your-greatest-partner.htm 

It’s win, win…win, win, win!

As Jan, one of the volunteer tutors in the video above said, “it’s win, win…win, win, win!” The volunteer wins, the learner wins, the CALP wins and the community wins. So, I encourage you reach out to your community and share your volunteer opportunities with them. And, for the volunteers that you do have, go ahead and continue to show your appreciation of them in any way that works … give them a big hug, write a thank you card, post your appreciation of them on Facebook or Instagram, invite them to Symposium, eat some donuts together, host an appreciation evening, or… the ideas are endless.

We would love to hear your volunteer success stories.