The New Westminster Festival of Volunteers is serving up of a smorgasbord of potential ways to contribute to the community.
Royal City Centre will be buzzing with activity on Saturday for the 13th annual New Westminster Festival of Volunteers. Thirty-six organizations will be attending the event to provide information about volunteer opportunities in New Westminster and to recruit volunteers.
“Volunteering is really where a community finds itself,” said Stacy Ashton, executive director of Community Volunteer Connections. “That is where you, out of the goodness of your heart or because you think something is really important, you get out into the community and make something happen. Without that kind of passion and interest and energy, we wouldn’t see New Westminster revitalization the way it is.”
Ashton said it’s estimated there are about 300 organizations of all sizes in New Westminster that rely on volunteers.
“That’s what’s really special about New Westminster, I think,” she said. “We have one of the highest number of nonprofit societies per capita in B.C. because there are a lot of people who have ideas about how to make New Westminster a great place to live and they want to put those ideas into action.”
The New Westminster Festival of Volunteers takes place on Saturday, Jan. 31 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Royal City Centre, which is at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Sixth Street.
Whether you’re a newcomer to Canada or New Westminster, a retiree with a few hours, or a parent seeking a chance to volunteer with your child, you’re bound to find something that fits the bill at the Festival of Volunteers.
Ashton said the festival is a great place for students to learn about places in New West where they can volunteer to get the community service hours they need to fulfill graduation requirements. New Westminster Secondary students who attend and get a passport stamped will get credit for two volunteer hours.
“We really want an easy way for them to get started thinking about who they want to volunteer with. Once they meet people, they build up their confidence and feel like they can actually do this. It’s kind of scary just calling up a random organization,” Aston said. “Most teens want to get started volunteering. They will blow past that 40 hours in no time. It’s just getting started.”
A diverse lineup of organizations are taking part in this year’s Festival of Volunteers, including service groups and organizations helping kids, animals, seniors, people in need, immigrants and more.
“If you go around and do the passport for volunteering, you visit with 10 organizations and you put your name in the draw,” Ashton added. “One lucky person will win a $500 shopping spree. That’s for all of the stores in Royal City Centre, including Save-On.”
In addition to giving citizens a chance to explore volunteer opportunities in the community, the New Westminster Festival of Volunteers will have entertainment including spoken word and singers.
“It is pretty fun,” she said. “Between the entertainment and visiting all the tables, there’s a lot of action happening.”
Ashton said the Festival of Volunteers relies on a large contingent of volunteers to make the day a success. New Westminster Youth Ambassadors have been volunteering at a variety of events in the community and are among the folks who will be helping out at the festival.
“It takes a lot of volunteers to put on a volunteer fair,” Ashton said. “For us, we probably have about 10 helping to organize the event. The number of volunteers that will be there during the day is probably about 200 because it’s going to be volunteers at all the tables, promoting the event, the volunteers up on the stage helping out.”
