LiveWorkPlay Celebrates National Volunteer Week 2017

It’s really very simple: volunteers are fundamental to great outcomes for our organization, the people we are involved in directly supporting, and the workplaces, neighbourhoods, and venues where they help make inclusion happen!

April 23 to 29 is National Volunteer Week. It is also the 14th consecutive year that Volunteer Canada delivers the National Volunteer Week (NVW) campaign in partnership with Investors Group. Here is the campaign message:

Thank you Canadian volunteers, for 150 glorious years.

In 2017, volunteering comes in many forms and is as diverse as Canada itself. Someone who shovels their neighbour’s laneway or who brings a lost pet to the animal shelter is helping to build a stronger community. Sometimes we miss recognizing these people as volunteers, because they do not occupy a formal role within an organization or group.

To celebrate all volunteers and to get you thinking more deeply about volunteering, during NVW Volunteer Canada will release a series of crossword puzzles (see below!) that reveal the impacts, benefits and diverse ways Canadians are involved in communities. Some answers may be obvious, while others may cause you to stop and say: “Volunteering, Eh?”

However you recognize volunteering in 2017, one thing remains timeless…and that is volunteer efforts create positive impact in communities across Canada.

Many LiveWorkPlay members are volunteers themselves, and additionally we have about 150 volunteers who have been recruited from the community at large to help us in our mission of helping Ottawa welcome people with intellectual disabilities to live, work, and play as valued citizens. To close out National Volunteer Week on Saturday, April 29, many of them will be guests for the DOW Honda Volunteer Breakfast. DOW Honda is a long-time employer of individuals with intellectual disabilities, a founding contributor to our volunteer Employment Task Force, a supporter of our events, and a financial contributor to LiveWorkPlay.

LiveWorkPlay formally celebrates volunteers at our annual Make A Buzz Ottawa event on May 11. “It’s going to be an amazing celebration with an opportunity to honour some individual volunteers who help out in different ways,” says LiveWorkPlay’s People Connector and volunteer coordinator Alex Darling. “We have volunteer opportunities for citizens of all ages and interests, and I look forward to showcasing how our volunteer team changes lives and makes our community stronger.”

Try the crossword!