Volunteer West Island marks 50th year
Volunteer West Island (VWI) has been matching the right volunteers with suitable charities for 50 years.
Last year, 2,650 volunteers contacted the VWI office in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue and were assigned duties at one of more than 300 community groups and facilities supported by VWI’s volunteer workforce.
“Volunteer West Island is a focal point for people in the community who want to get involved,” executive director Lynda Barrett said. “We make the match.”
To mark the milestone anniversary, VWI launched the 50 Faces campaign. West Islanders submitted photos of volunteers they felt had gone the extra mile to help others. The stories of those selected will be shared on April 24 when a banner emblazoned with their photos will be unveiled during a celebratory tea for volunteers.
Barrett said volunteers come to the organization from a variety of backgrounds and for a variety of reasons. They can be newly retired with time on their hands, students who want to gain experience, or people who are going through a career change. They can be individual volunteers, student groups from a high school or from John Abbott College or a group of corporate volunteers.
Each volunteer goes through a 10-step screening process that includes an interview, submission of references, a background check by police and training.
“It’s a wonderful organization to work for,” volunteer Fran Thomson said. “They are so appreciative of what we do.”
In 2010, Thomson lost her job as project co-ordinator at a clinical research company. She was a victim of corporate downsizing. It was unexpected and she was devastated. In 2011, adrift and in search of a purpose, Thomson saw an online ad for a volunteer receptionist position at Volunteer West Island.
The fit was immediate. Over the years, the part-time VWI receptionist also has helped out with Meals on Wheels — taking phone orders and occasionally helping with deliveries. And she regularly lends a hand to the Income Tax Assistance Service, making appointments, visiting homes to collect documents, and filling in preliminary forms. Someone else handles the actual tax returns. March and April are busy months.
“Before starting at VWI, I had no idea how many vulnerable people there were in the West Island,” Thomson said.
“There is a big seniors population and some aren’t so stable, financially or health-wise. It makes me feel good to be able to do something for someone else.”
Thomson is also in charge of the VWI newsletter.
“It was hard adjusting to losing my job,” Thomson said. “I had no place to go. Now I’m wondering how I would ever find time to work.”
Volunteer West Island began in 1967 as a modest-sized outreach group for senior citizens. It now has an operating budget of $576,000 and a database of 7,000 volunteers who can be, as need dictates, matched with a charities and facilities in the region. Financing is obtained through individual donations and corporate and government grants.
The organization supports many programs and services, from a handyman service to Caring Paw Animal Therapy — which can help ease anxiety and encourage social engagement through the interaction with carefully selected dogs.
VWI also offers the PAIR program — an automated telephone service that checks in at least once a day to see if the client is OK and reminds them to take their meds — and the CONTACT program, staffed by volunteers who call clients three times a week for a friendly chat.
“Times are tough,” Barrett said. “Volunteering brings out the best in people. It helps make a community a good place to be.”
Visit www.cabvwi.org for more information.