National Volunteer Week is an annual week to recognize and celebrate the impact volunteerism has on our communities. This year, it runs from April 27 to May 3. As it begins, we want to highlight the impactful role our volunteers play in helping us on our mission to create healthier communities through education, awareness and resources. Volunteers have played a critical role in our impact since our founding in 1972.
“National Volunteer Week is about taking a moment to acknowledge that these folks are donating their valuable time and labour and to not take it for granted,” says Ashley Barclay, the Centre’s Volunteer Coordinator.
Since 2023, our volunteer program has grown from about five regular volunteers to 40! Our volunteers donate thousands of hours annually, helping our clients receive better and more timely care. Our many front desk volunteers also ensure that we can promptly answer questions we receive from the public in person, via email and on the phone.
Our volunteers also help us input data from the thousands of surveys we conduct annually about our programs, helping us tailor our offerings to current needs and ensure we offer evidence-informed and result-driven programming.
Volunteers obviously help the organizations they serve, but what is less talked about is what volunteers get out of volunteering. At the Centre, we want to ensure our volunteer program is fundamentally reciprocal: “It’s okay to expect to get something out of volunteering, whether that’s a sense of community, making connections, gaining experience for a job or getting training and additional information,” Ashley says. “We really work toward making sure that it is a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Ashley, our Volunteer Coordinator and Information Specialist
How our volunteers help
Our volunteer opportunities include a variety of roles. Many of our volunteers are the first impression that the public gets of the Centre, working at our front desk to answer questions, provide resources and welcome clients. Volunteers also help with our testing clinics and allow us to attend more community events.
“The more volunteers we have, the more events we’re able to go to and the better we’re able to connect with folks in the community,” Ashley says. “We have a limited number of humans here at the Centre as staff, so if we have extra volunteers who want to go out with us, that allows us to go out more often and to more places.”
The Centre also offers behind-the-scenes roles like data entry. We run hundreds of programs with thousands of participants every year, and we survey all of them to ensure effectiveness and identify where we can improve. The surveys also play an important part in reports that we send to our funders in order to keep some of our programs low- or no-cost.
Camp fYrefly Southern Alberta, our summer camp for 2SLGBTQ+ youth, is another huge volunteer-based undertaking. “We have adult and youth volunteers, as well as mental health volunteers who come out to Camp for that week. They’re there the entire week supporting campers and being wonderful mentors and role models to queer youth who are there to gain this awesome experience on community, identity, knowledge and understanding,” says Ashley.
Pride opportunities
Some of the busiest times at the Centre are during Pride Month in June and surrounding Calgary Pride. Volunteers interested in helping out can join us for the many events that we are invited to during these busy times. We also hand out Love Kits with safer sex supplies and buttons during Pride, so having volunteers help put together these supplies is key in helping us raise awareness of our services.
“When you’re at an event, you see more people out and about, and it can really remind you that, even though it can be more difficult in the world right now with the things that we are working toward, there are still people out there who need this and who you are supporting and are going to benefit from all the work that you do to as a volunteer,” Ashley says.
Volunteer with us
To streamline training and make sure we are recruiting for roles we need, we do volunteer intakes several times a year. Keep an eye on our volunteer page and our social media to see when we’re recruiting!