Volunteering is a great way to meet new people and learn more about your community, and Ladysmith's volunteer fair offered opportunities galore.
The fair was sponsored by the Ladysmith Community Fund Society at the Eagles Hall.
“Volunteers are the backbone of every community and we rely on them,” said Tracey Brown, director of philanthropy at the Nanaimo Foundation. “The charitable sector relies on them to deliver their services. They are the backbone of every community especially in Canada."
"As a part of the nonprofit community in Ladysmith, we wanted to bring organizations together that rely on volunteers with people who are looking for places to share their volunteer title and experience,” said Bruce Whittington, chair of the society. "And it's just worked really well to not only to bring the public together with the organizations in the community and show what they can do, but also to bring those organizations together themselves for that cross pollination — networking and ideas swapping and stuff.”
In 2021 the one year old Ladysmith Community Fund Society signed an agreement with the Nanaimo Foundation to help it grow and manage the society’s funds and assets.
The local society has started its own program to invite charities to submit proposals where the society’s board will gauge them and issue grant funding from the investment earnings of the endowment fund.
“Over time, when they can afford some staff and assets like Nanaimo that's only 20 minutes away and it has the infrastructure, LCFS can move further," Brown said. "So build with what exists rather than, you know, drawing a line in the sand and saying, this is ours and that's yours, and it's worked better.”
Whittington said the groups hold the same values.
"We're all building community. We want to see communities where everyone feels like they belong and they contribute in some way and Nanaimo has the resources, for example, to share with us,” he said.
The fair, exposing the numbers and qualities of volunteers, attracted more than a dozen different Ladysmith organizations. One of the groups in attendance was the local Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) Station 29 volunteers. Last month, the local volunteers received the Emergency Management Exemplary Service Award for their outstanding contributions to search and rescue and public safety.
“It's great to even just meet all the the other organizations in town," said Sue Wisely, Station 29 leader. "Networking. The other thing that I appreciate is this gives us an opportunity to say who we are to the community because we're not the Coast Guard as some think. We are all volunteers, so it’s great exposure for us.”
The RCMSAR display, the volunteers said, had attracted a few people to express interest and lots of spectators took some of the promotional brochures.
The Ladysmith Lions Club also had an exhibit, with volunteers, at the fair. Manned by local Lions volunteers John Shephard and Bea Wilson their display featured projects the local organization has done along with what their national organization does around the country.
“Our biggest project, right now, is we're sponsoring a room up in the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital," said Shephard. "It’s a place where families can stay when their kids are in the hospital. We've raised $120,000 to date by Lions volunteers all over the island.”
