Former premier shares his perspective

Youth leadership project participants learn about the importance of volunteering

The third weekend camp of the youth leadership program “Faut que ça grouille!”, held recently in Charlottetown, greatly reinforced the principle that volunteering is extremely important, not only for the organizations and activities that benefit from it but also for the personal and even professional development of the volunteers themselves.

The 25 program participants, aged 15-30 years, heard a speaker and several key people from the community talk about what they had gained by volunteering. They shared that the valuable experience and knowledge they gained sometimes led to prestigious jobs and memorable adventures.

The weekend’s keynote speaker, Brian Gallant, a lawyer and former premier of New Brunswick, began by recounting his humble beginnings, explaining how, as a teenager, he had set the goal of reach- ing the political pinnacle of his

province. He then spoke of his many volunteer involvements in his school, university and community that contributed to his election to the provincial legislature at the age of 24 and to the position of premier at the age of 32. Gallant also stressed the importance of balancing one’s personal and professional life and finding one’ true purpose.

The participants then met four special guests during a “World Café” that gave the youth an opportunity to move from one table to another for small group discussions. Brian Gallant, Giselle Bernard, Jeanne Gallant and Mélissa MacDonald were able to share their experiences and suggestions and answer questions from the youth.

Four panelists were also invited to comment on the issue of community volunteering.

Three of the program participants – Adrien Buote, Sylvain Duguay and Brittany Arsenault – then shared their own volunteer experiences, confirming how they had benefited from this work.

Sarah Gallant also spoke to the youth about the Rising Youth program, which provides community service grants for youth projects.

Armed with these motivational speeches and encouragements, the participants then set to work to develop their own community project, which they are expected to implement in the coming months. Some of the young people, seeing similarities between their own ideas and the proposals of others, naturally allied themselves, especially when they came from the same region.

Co-ordinator Gilles Arsenault says the program seems to have gained a very good momentum during this third camp.

“We have a group of young people who are very committed and who really want to make a difference in their communities. We look forward to seeing their projects once they are underway.”

The next camp will be held in January in Summerside. Project planning, including the financial perspective, will be discussed.

Financial specialist Ron Robichaud will be one of the guest speakers.

SUBMITTED Guest speaker Brian Gallant, second from the left, impressed the participants of the “Faut que ça grouille!” program earlier this month when he told them how his volunteer experiences helped him to become premier of New Brunswick at the age of 33. He is seen with three of the program participants, from left, Dakota Cameron, Adrien Buote and Robyn Gallant.