For National Volunteer Week (April 10-16), we asked some local organizations to tell us what their volunteers mean to them. Here’s what they had to say:<\/p>\n
“Our organization, Muskoka Women\u2019s Advocacy Group<\/strong>, was founded by a committed group of volunteers many years ago and still relies heavily on the selflessness of volunteers; from our board members to grocery shoppers, drivers, and those who take in women\u2019s pets for us and even do gardening for our two shelters. Time is a finite and invaluable commodity and we truly appreciate all of those who are willing to share some of their time with MWAG.” “Volunteers are the backbone and heart of The Huntsville Theatre Company<\/strong>. They spend hours upon hours memorizing lines, developing their craft, sharing their creative vision, building sets, creating costumes, etc – year round. Whether they are on stage, behind the scenes, involved in one show or many, from our youngest member at 8 years old to our eldest 70+ – their love and passion for theatre, and particularly this theatre company, is evident every time they enter the Studio Theatre. It’s a theatre built with LOVE.” The cast from Doubt: A Parable (front from left) Teal Cochrane, Lynn Jackson (stage manager), Lauren Saunders; (back from left) Veronica Leonard, Greg Perras, Greg Hancock (director). Photo: Alastair Dunlop.<\/p><\/div>\n “Over the years, I have sat on many boards and committees that rely heavily on a volunteer base. They are a vital part of running any large event. Recently, having hosted The U-18 Women’s National Hockey Championships<\/strong> this past November, I would say without hesitation that without the dedicated volunteer base that we had we could have never been so successful. We had roughly 200 volunteers that gave unselfishly of their time. We tried very hard to recognize them afterwards with a big party and gifts, but saying a mere “Thank You<\/strong><\/em>” somehow just doesn’t seem to be enough. Huntsville is a blessed community. Volunteers make the community work…” “(TriMuskoka<\/strong>‘s) triathlon events could not function without volunteers that put in countless hours on both the day of events, but for many, many months leading into the event weekend. The Ironman events that we have here light on anywhere between 800 and 1500 volunteers: 800 were required for the 70.3 which sees over 1500 athletes participate; the full Ironman has just over 1200 athletes making the volunteer to athlete ratio better than one-to-one. The TriMuskokan Short Course Triathlon and Try-a-Tri that our club organizes requires around 60 volunteers, which sees a lot of turnover year to year since so many of our volunteers come out and see that this is a great community event with an achievable fitness goal, and they sign up for the event next year! Our community is so blessed to have people that are engaged and interested in making sure that our community puts our best foot forward for these events. It is these events that enrich the social fabric of our community, the health and wellness of our community residents, and the experience that tourists have when coming to our area all year long.”
\n~Rachelle Walker, Executive Director, Muskoka Women\u2019s Advocacy Group (Muskoka Interval House\/Chrysalis)<\/p>\n
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\n~Jan Jacklin, Huntsville Theatre Company<\/p>\n![\"Doubt](\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2016\/04\/Doubt-a-Parable-photo-by-Alastair-Dunlop.jpg\")
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\nWendy McConnell, Chair, U-18 Women’s National Hockey Championships (Nov 4-8, 2015)<\/p>\n
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\n~Rich Trenholm, President of TriMuskoka<\/p>\n\n\t\t