Volunteer appreciation event to precede Communithon Committee AGM

An average of 75 volunteers help out each year at the annual Weyburn Communithon event, and on Tuesday, April 23rd, the Communithon Committee will be celebrating their past and future volunteers.

"It takes a lot of bodies and a lot of people in the community and we're just really thankful for that, and we wanted to do something to just celebrate all of the volunteers that help out with Communithon," said Weyburn Communithon Committee vice-chair Lindsay Manko-Bauche, who is also the subcommittee chair for the volunteer committee. "It's truly a community event, for Weyburn, by Weyburn. So this is a way for us to come together, celebrate some of the different milestones."

She said this is also a chance for volunteers to see how their efforts have affected the organizations the big event raises money for each year. 

"The theme this year for National Volunteer Week is 'Every Moment Matters', so it's going to be a time theme. We're going to be doing a little bit of a time capsule, we're going to be doing a timeline to celebrate some of those major events from Communithon, and we're just going to 'have a time', because every moment does matter when it comes to Communithon."

Everyone who helps out with the Communithon, being held this year on October 25th, is essentially a volunteer, as eight non-profit organizations benefit from the 15-hour televised fundraiser.

"It takes a village to make an event like this occur. There is work behind the scenes, but there is just something for everyone. If you want to help out a little bit, or if you want to help out a lot, there's an opportunity for everyone."

Whether a volunteer helps out with a quick performance or they are one of the 'die-hards' who are there from before the start to after the finish, Manko-Bauche said they just want to celebrate their volunteers in whatever capacity they've helped in for Communithon. 

"Celebrating past volunteers and welcoming new people who are interested in Communithon and want to learn a little bit more and help out in a different way," she noted. "We're really just looking to create some fun buzz for our volunteers that help out at other parts of the year. So nothing too formal, just letting everybody know about how their contributions count and maybe they can learn something new about Communithons past or things like that at the event."

She said volunteers can take the opportunity to join a sub-committee, such as finance, entertainment, volunteers, business, and more.

"Whatever you're passionate about, we should be able to find something for you to do, if you're interested in it and helping out in some way. All of those committees get the ball rolling behind the scenes so that things run smoothly the day of the event," she shared. "We just all really like each other, like it's a fun time to get together and because we're all volunteers, and we're all volunteering our time, there is a lot more leniency about how and where and when we can set up meetings and do things like that. It kind of works around whatever the committee's needs are, so that you're not kind of like pigeon-holed to specific times and dates and can contribute where you can."

The eight community agencies are heavily involved on committees and at the event, and Manko-Bauche said they enjoy being able to help each other out as well.

"I know for myself, at least, I'm involved because it's such an easy way to support many different organizations with one event. I can't volunteer at eight places, but I can volunteer for this and then it maximizes my efforts as a volunteer in my community. So that's why I like it."

Volunteers can often be made to feel like they're being 'voluntold'. However, she said this is, "no volun-telling, but volun-liking having lots of volun-fun."

No pre-registration is required to attend this volunteer appreciation event at 6:30 p.m., and refreshments will be provided. This event will precede the Communithon Annual General Meeting at 7:30 p.m. She added anyone can stay for both, or come just for one of the two events being held back-to-back on Tuesday, April 23rd, in the upstairs boardroom at Southeast College.