Just as we are celebrating the spirit of volunteerism on Manitoulin Island, various cadres of busy volunteers are giving up their own time (and often resources as well) to:
•Develop a handi-capped accessible path from the Misery Bay Provincial Park interpretive centre down to the alvar shores of Lake Huron;
•Growing the next generation of walleye to plant, for anglers to enjoy later;
•Growing the next generation of salmon to plant in the North Channel and Lake Huron for anglers to enjoy catching;
•Planning powwow cultural celebrations in every First Nations community;
•Celebrating the recent success of Special Olympians they’ve helped coach, and/or for whom they have helped with fundraising activities;
•Are just now winding up yet another busy year of coaching young curlers and taking them to bonspiels;
•Ensure the continued success of the Sea Cadets program on Manitoulin for young people;
•Continually fundraise for special projects and equipment in each of the hospitals in Little Current and Mindemoya;
•Serve without compensation on numerous boards and committees or organizations vital to Manitoulin Island residents; and
•Plan the summer festivals, large and small, in every Manitoulin Island community that are socially vital to tourist visitors and year around residents alike.
These are only a handful of the vital services Manitoulin Island volunteers contribute to the common good. It doesn’t include the individuals who bring leadership skills to church committees, community hall boards, library boards, hospital boards and so on.
If you are reading this you are almost guaranteed to be a community volunteer in some capacity, or have been in the past.
So is your neighbour. So is your cousin.
Volunteers bring so much to the organizations they choose to support: they bring their life experiences, their ideas, and their energy.
Volunteers work, usually behind the scenes, and this work ensures that things run smoothly: that there are activities for young people, like organized hockey and soccer, that there are places for us to come and remember and thank our veterans and our war dead.
Money couldn’t buy the services volunteers provide, and if it could, we wouldn’t be able to afford to cover the cost.
Thank you everyone who does now, or has ever volunteered in any way.
