Nominations now open!

It’s National Volunteer Week! Each year Volunteer Canada recognizes the amazing work done by volunteers as they contribute to the fabric of our society. In fact, the theme of this year’s National Volunteer Week is “Volunteering Weaves Us Together.”

Like the warp and weft in weaving, where some strands run vertically and others cross horizontally to form a strong woven fabric, volunteers do that weaving in our community. Some are the warp, volunteering at Flamborough Foodbank, Food with Grace or Knox Out of the Cold. Others are the weft, cleaning cages at Animal Adoptions of Flamborough, helping with the Coldest Night of the Year walkathon for Eagles Nest, setting up an Easter egg hunt in the park with the Lions or the Optimists or entertaining us with the Rotary Club’s Oh Canada Ribfest. Together they are weaving the strong fabric of our community.

Flamborough has so many amazing volunteer opportunities, from service clubs to places of worship, from charities and not-for-profits to nursing homes and schools, and from spring trash pickups to coaching kids’ soccer. We are a diverse community, filled with many towns, villages and hamlets, each adding its own colour to the fabric we are weaving together. And each with its own community of volunteers, adding a depth of colour to the weave.

If you are looking to volunteer, check out the Volunteer Opportunities page under Flamborough Volunteers on the Flamborough Connects website (flamboroughconnects.ca). Are you a charity, not-for-profit, service club or faith group that needs volunteers? Click on the Submit Your Opportunity button and we’ll add it. Flamborough Volunteers is a volunteer opportunity bulletin board and interested volunteers should contact organizations directly about posted opportunities.

Flamborough Connects is very proud of our volunteers! They lead gentle fitness classes, drive residents to appointments, shop for those who can’t get to the store or foodbank, prepare income tax returns, buy holiday gifts, shovel snow in the winter, make friendly calls to those facing social isolation and loneliness or sit on our Board of Directors. And we are very proud of all the volunteers in Flamborough, donating thousands of hours of time to the causes they believe in. Our community would not be what it is without you. Volunteers make a huge difference!

To recognize those volunteers, nominations are now open for the 2023 Senior Volunteer Award. And, brand new this year, the Youth Volunteer Award. Seniors over 55 with more than 3 years of volunteer service to the Flamborough Community, or youth aged 12 – 25 with more than 2 years of volunteer service to the Flamborough Community, can be nominated on behalf of a non-profit/charitable organization or community representative. Details are available on the Flamborough Connects website (flamboroughconnects.ca), under Flamborough Volunteers or call Flamborough Connects for more information at 905-689-7880.

And save the date for the 2023 Volunteer Awards Celebration on the evening of Thursday June 15, when we will be honouring the outstanding volunteers in our community. Whether you are a volunteer in Flamborough, part of an organization that benefits from volunteerism, or someone who wants to recognize the value that volunteers add, we can’t wait to see you there!