Ponoka BGC Wolf Creek staff are gearing up to show their appreciation for their dedicated volunteer team.
National Volunteer Week runs April 14-20, but Ponoka BGC is holding its appreciation event on May 1.
“We thank all of our volunteers, and we present awards as well,” said Beth Reitz, executive director of the Ponoka Youth Centre, which includes BGC Wolf Creek.
The event includes a supper, and the evening will also be hosted by some of the youth who will be sharing testimonials.
Also, several youths from a new program called Lead Up will be a key part of the event as well.
“It’s a program geared to teaching the kids to be community-minded and service-based,” explained Mollie Farley, program manager.
“Every youth that we are going to honour on volunteer night had to give 120 hours of volunteer time into the community.
“A lot of them did this through the club — they did things like running a haunted house, they helped with the Santa Claus parade float, they helped with movie nights at the club, and a clothing swap.
“Some of them also provided free babysitting for community members, and they helped with local sports organizations that they are connected with,” she said.
“We had 12 young people between the ages of 14 and 16 complete the 120 volunteer hours with giving back to the community,” she said, adding that these young folks will be honoured during the volunteer appreciation event.
Farley said that she has seen a strong sense of ownership across the community grow amongst the Lead On participants.
They’ve also shared ideas with her on what they’d like to see added to the Lead Up program for next year, she said.
“It’s great to see the impact that we have on the community and the youth, and to just see the lives that are touched,” she added.
Reitz pointed out that the Lead Up program is funded by the federal government.
“For every youth that participates, we get a certain amount of dollars back to help support our youth programs. So by them doing this, it helps to funds our programming.”
Meanwhile, volunteers (of which there are 84 in the organization overall) are of course essential to the mission of BGC.
“A lot of them are in our mentoring club as our mentors,” said Reitz.
“That program would not exist without them. And it means that between 50 and 60 kids had a personal, one-to-one mentor this past year. The outcomes from that program are substantial,” she said.
“Our other volunteers help with our youth drop-in program, our board, and our committees — things like that,” she said.
“We want to make it known how much we do appreciate our volunteers, and it’s becoming more and more imperative to have volunteers,” she said, adding that if anyone is interested, there are several places in the organization that could use a helping hand.
“We also saw a drop in volunteers with COVID as well, so we are trying to rebuild that.”
For more about the upcoming awards night or about volunteering opportunities with Ponoka BGC in general, call 403-783-3112 or visit ponoka.bgcwolfcreek.com.