Volunteer Centre Society invites volunteers to join virtual meetings

Photo: Contributed

A non-profit organization is helping the community by being a one-stop shop for volunteers to allow them to connect with opportunities in the community. 

The South Okanagan Similkameen (SOS) Volunteer Centre Society has been operating throughout the pandemic, connecting people with safe opportunities. 

“We're operating virtually, which we were doing a bit before but now it's just more so,” Wendy Weisner, the executive director for SOS Volunteer centre said.

“We are a centre that is kind of a go between for organizations that need volunteers, like not for profits, events and festivals and volunteers in the community.” 

For the most part, the organization has been connecting with volunteers through Zoom meetings and monthly Zoom gatherings for new volunteers. Weisner points out that there’s a lot of opportunities for people to volunteer safely during this time. 

“There are more volunteer roles in the community, like grant writing, that you can do virtually and there's a senior wellness society which has really good programs for connecting on the telephone through friendly visitors,” she said. 

“One of the things we're asking are organizations that we work with are making sure that any volunteers or roles that they have are safe. If it is a face-to-face role, then making sure that there's a barrier between and all the safeguards are there that Dr. Bonnie Henry has instituted.” 

The centre used to run a luncheon for the community to invite the new people or interested parties in learning about volunteering. Participants could come and meet others who volunteer in the community and learn about their experiences. 

“One would think its a very simple challenge to volunteer, but if you're new to the community, you don't know where to go and it's very helpful to new people especially or those who are new to volunteering to hear from someone who's been volunteering for years and they know the community, where the best places are the volunteer that meets their interests.” Weisner said. 

Often volunteers who meet at the gathering will end up going out and volunteering together in the community.

“It's very heartening to see the connections that are made there.”

While the Zoom meeting replacement doesn’t give face-to-face connections, it still provides an opportunity for new volunteers to the community to hear from others.The centre has also added a discussion on how to remain healthy during a pandemic, including topics on talking about anxiety and negative thinking, and how to make connections. 

“I firmly believe that there's a volunteer position for everybody” 

The next team volunteer gatherings are on Oct 28 and Nov.25, both running at 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

Everyone is welcome to attend and can register to the Zoom meeting by emailing [email protected]