This
year has been dedicated to volunteers around the globe. Living in the City
of Greater Sudbury has given us all an appreciation for volunteer work
since statistics show that as many as 33% of all people living in this
region volunteer for at least one charitable or non-profit organization.
To
recognize the contributions of volunteers, the world will be celebrating
such people for all they do to enhance the quality of life for those
around them.
It
has been estimated that, on average, volunteers each spend 147 hours for a
total of 6.9 million hours a year in Sudbury alone. Across Canada there
are more than 7.5 million volunteers generating a total of over one
billion volunteer hours annually.
A
number of special events will be organized during the year to honour
volunteers. One of the biggest will be a special Family & Volunteer
picnic to be held in June at Bell Park. A mural will also be painted at
Tom Davies Square showing a past volunteer and a future volunteer. It is
expected that most organizations which rely on volunteers will do
something to show their gratitude during the course of the year as well.
Linda
Fontaine, of Meals on Wheels, is the official spokesperson of the local
International Year of the Volunteer planning committee. For more
information on this committee or on how you can help out with any of the
activities planned during 2001, call 897-4805.
