Following your interests key to finding right match

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This article was published 04/01/2016 (3799 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Looking for somewhere to volunteer in 2016? Noreen Mian has advice.

“Start with where your heart lies and make sure that what you’re doing speaks to you,” says Mian, executive director of Volunteer Manitoba.

Established in 1978, Volunteer Manitoba supports groups and individuals in the voluntary sector in their efforts to meet community needs throughout the province.

It offers a list of volunteer opportunities on its website that currently includes more than 300 positions.

In addition to finding a cause close to your heart, Mian advises people looking to volunteer to make sure they know the impact of the role they are signing up for.

“It may just be stuffing envelopes, but what you’re actually doing is fundraising to find a cure for cancer,” she says.

In many cases, applying for a volunteer position can be similar to applying for a job. It might include submitting a resumé and going in for an interview. Additional steps, such as undergoing a criminal-record check, are also sometimes necessary.

The formality shouldn’t scare applicants — the screening processes are simply in place to make sure the right people are matched with the right positions and everyone involved has the best possible experience.

“Those checks and balances are in place to ensure that everyone is safe,” Mian says.

Manitoba has one of the highest rates of volunteerism in the country, Statistics Canada reports.

In 2013, the volunteer rate in the province was 52 per cent — significantly higher than the national average of 44 per cent and second only to Saskatchewan (56 per cent).

In addition to serving as a conduit between people who want to volunteer and organizations that need volunteers, Volunteer Manitoba also helps not-for-profit organizations run more efficiently by offering training workshops on volunteer management, board governance and organizational development.

Volunteer Manitoba also runs Contact Community Information, a database of community and social services. The goal of that database is to ensure everyone in Manitoba, whether they are service providers or individuals seeking services for themselves or a loved one, finds what they need.

Volunteer Manitoba does this through its database and by offering a confidential anonymous phone line during regular business hours.

If, for example, you have an elderly parent living in Elmwood and you’re looking for a program that runs activities for seniors, you can check the database for services in that neighbourhood.

Mian says working at Volunteer Manitoba is meaningful for her on a personal level because volunteering is something she has done since she was a child.

Her experience includes six months volunteering in Ghana with the Osu Children’s Library Fund, an organization that develops libraries to promote reading for African children and literacy classes for adults.

When Mian returned from Ghana in 2007, Volunteer Manitoba hired her to give classroom presentations about her experience. In the eight years since, she has worked her way up to her current role.

“It’s easy for me to get behind volunteerism because it changed my life,” Mian says.

Learn more about Volunteer Manitoba at volunteermanitoba.ca.

 

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.