The Halifax Regional Municipality has been recognizing the efforts and contributions of those who are sharing their time and skills in providing services and programs to our community for free! For the past 25 years, the Volunteer Awards has been celebrated every April during the National Volunteer Week.
For you to show your appreciation for the hard work and determination of the volunteers, you can nominate them and they will have a chance to be honoured during next year’s National Volunteer Week from April 16 -22, 2023. There will be a ceremony and banquet with Mayor Mike Savage and Regional Council.
There are a lot of volunteer opportunities in HRM. You can volunteer as a firefighter and join the Canada’s largest composite fire department with more than 500 volunteers! They respond to about 3,000 emergency calls a year throughout the municipality. You can also give back to your community through the Halifax Regional Police with various programs such as Burnside Watch Patrol, Citizens on Patrol Neighbourhood Watch Youth Program, and Victim Services.
If you want to contribute your unique voice and talents to life at the library, the Halifax Public Libraries are offering programs for both adults and teens! Some of their programs are the Children’s Play Facilitator, Children’s Reading Support, English Conversation Groups, English Language Learning, Food Programming Volunteers and many more!
You can also volunteer as a reading support volunteer tutor if you love reading and teaching children. There is also a program for tutoring adult literacy and help someone in your community improve his or her basic literacy skills.
There are also organizations who give opportunities to volunteers. One of them is the Volunteer Nova Scotia. This is a partnership between Kings Volunteer Resource Centre, the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage and Volunteer Canada. This province-wide service gives support to volunteer organizations to find skilled volunteers where they are needed and provide information to those looking for the right volunteer opportunity.
Another is the Volunteer Halifax that strives to make Halifax better place by helping nonprofit organizations build stronger relationships with individuals in their community. Their main objectives are linking people with local community organizations; supporting persons with disabilities, new Canadians, corporations and professionals connect to organizations in and around the city; encouraging youth to get involved; helping individuals develop skills to advance their careers; developing knowledge resources that support effective and efficient volunteer capacity; and making Halifax a better place.
You can also volunteer to Nova Scotia 211. They are your 24/7 connection to the programs and services in your community that matter most. Through information and referrals, they help connect the citizens to local community groups, non-profit and government organizations. They provide important information and help for those who are seeking homecare support for an older adult; a teenager looking for job-seeking skills; those who are in need of food; looking for shelter/housing; or, new to the province/country and looking for language or employment training and many other specific scenarios.
Do you know volunteers that made exceptional contributions to your community? Nominate them now! If you want to know more about this event or want to be a volunteer, visit https://www.halifax.ca/about-halifax/volunteering/volunteer-awards
References:
https://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/support/volunteer/
https://www.volunteerns.ca
https://volunteerhalifax.ca/
https://ns.211.ca
https://www.halifax.ca
Photo by RODNAE Productions: https://www.pexels.com/photo/three-people-donating-goods-6646918/
