Celebrating our volunteers

National Volunteer Week is April 23-29. This is an opportunity to celebrate our volunteers and thank them for all the hard work and dedication over the years. Canadian Mental Health Association is lucky to have 86 volunteers, including 11 board members, five Golden Age Helpers and 70 POST store helpers that support our organization and programs. In 2016, they provided us with more than 9,000 hours of volunteering time. That is the equivalent of 4.5 FTE positions.

Without their hard work, we would not be able to provide all of the great services to our community and the surrounding region. Most of our volunteers spend their time at The POST Thrift store working hard sorting, pricing, stocking shelves and helping customers who are shopping.

Did you know that the proceeds from sales at The POST Thrift Store support programs for Canadian Mental Health Association? Many of the services are provided without cost to those living with mental illness such as: support groups, information and referral services, employment opportunities, and budgeting programs.

CMHA also offers mental health promotion and education services, suicide awareness and prevention programs, and budgeting workshops without charge for schools, businesses and the community. Some training programs such as ASIST Suicide Prevention and for the Mental Health First Aid courses are delivered with a registration fee for the two-day courses.

The POST provides employment for people living with a mental illness who want to give back to their community. Sometimes it is a safe place to re-enter the workforce either in the bookstore or in the POST, or as a stepping-stone to move on. For others, it is a wonderful place to keep working.

The heart of the POST are the volunteers who started it in 1979; and the dedicated team of approximately 86 women and men who give of their time and talent to support the POST, six days a week. We are very lucky to have some long term volunteers that have helped us out for more than 20 years. Saying thank you just doesn’t seem to be enough to show our appreciation. During volunteer week, we are going to provide lunches for volunteers to say thank you for their time. If you have time, come down to the store and meet these super heroes who generously donate their time.

Here is where you come in. You too can give back to this community in one of many ways. You can donate your gently used goods (not your junk) to the POST. You can shop at the POST to purchase high quality used goods at affordable prices. You can give a little of your time and talent by becoming one of our volunteers, as we have a suitable job to meet your availability and interest. Just four hours a week could make a huge difference.

But beyond celebrating our volunteers, customers and donors, we also want to say thank you to all the volunteers in our community. Did you know Medicine Hat is offering a Community Volunteer Appreciation event on April 25 at 6 p.m. at the Medicine Hat Lodge? This celebration includes dinner, generously subsidized by the Lodge, and entertainment provided by Jack Humeny & Elly Berger. This is an opportunity for volunteers from all organizations to be acknowledged and thanked for their wonderful work and tireless contributions. Volunteers are encouraged to register and pick up a complimentary ticket at the Strathcona Centre. There are a limited number of tickets available and they are first-come, first-served.

If you have any questions, please contact me at the CMHA by calling 403-5041811, ext. 105, emailing cfischer@cmha-aser.ca, visit our website at www.cmha-aser.ca and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cmha.albertasoutheast or contact us on twitter @CMHA_ASER

Cori J. Fischer is the executive director of Canadian Mental Health Association Alberta Southeast Region.