Volunteers come from all walks of life and age groups, and their countless reasons for so willingly sharing their valuable time, skills and caring compassion with others always come straight from the heart. There are so many ways and opportunities to become a volunteer in and around our community during all seasons, and the wonderful benefit is that you can choose your time and involvement in an area where you or your family would like to lend a very much-appreciated helping hand.
Leo Belanger of Ponoka relates a very special example of how the magic of volunteering and giving touches so many people.
“I started volunteering at the Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre eight months after my wife died from cancer. I had been to the hospitals at Red Deer and Ponoka every day for three months and I had learned some special things about helping that I thought I could use to comfort people who were hospitalized,” said Belanger. “Being allowed to work in the hospital grounds was an added bonus and a joy rather than a task.”
Those interested in joining hundreds of your friends and neighbours as a community volunteer are welcome to get in touch with the Volunteer Services Department at the Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury at 403-783-7782, or the Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre at 403-704-8801. Thank you for your kind consideration of joining a wonderful community team of ‘helping hands’ in a caring adventure that will leave a lifetime impression.
Characteristics of a Volunteer:
*They make better friends.
*They make better spouses.
*They make better parents.
*They make better citizens.
*They are more a turned to likely reaching out to strangers.
*They meet and connect with more people.
*They are persistently cheerful and have a positive demeanour.
*They have a better support system.
*They are more attractive. There is no doubt that this description can fit all of us just perfectly.