Volunteering as a family (and how to start in Victoria)

Do you volunteer as a family? Are you curious about how to involve your child in helping out, or giving back?

The post below originally appeared in the HandsOn Blog on March 15th 2011. It is a great intro to volunteering as a family, and they were generous in their permission for us to re-post for your reading pleasure!

If you are curious about where to start volunteering as a family in Victoria, read on to the bottom, or please share your experiences and insights through the comments!

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2010 Social Media Year-in-Review

I would like to thank this week’s guest blogger, Janis La Couvée, for once again sharing her insights with us.  If you are at all familiar with the social media scene in Victoria, you will definitely have heard of Janis. 

Janis is a financial services professional with a long history of community involvement, particularly in the areas of capacity building, public relations and the arts.  Long before social media was in vogue, Janis was connecting people and building community. Social media has just made it easier to do!

She has graciously offered to share her Social …

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Making every moment count: A youth volunteer’s story

Maddy Guy is a volunteer with the Youth Volunteer Connections Program. She began volunteering with the Royal Jubilee Hospital in April 2010 and has volunteered with the Cool Aid Society as well.  Maddy is in Grade 12 at St. Andrew’s High School, and wants to pursue studies in nursing when she graduates.

Maddy has written an inspirational scholarship essay that speaks perfectly to the potential for growth and positive change through volunteering.  Please enjoy a glimpse into a youth volunteer’s experience.

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“We ought to make every …

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Mentorship at ICA

Alan Piffer is one of our Volunteer Media Generalist/Writers here at Volunteer Victoria. See his previous blog post on the Luminara Festival. 

For newcomers to Victoria, achieving success in one’s profession or trade can often be a challenging prospect. Imagine, then, what a new immigrant would face trying to adapt to Canadian culture at the same time.

Hugo Kerckhoffs worked as a graphic designer in Mexico before moving to Canada. He has found adjusting his profession to a new country to be somewhat difficult, not just because Canadians do more online work than in Mexico, but also because of the difference in …

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New Policy on Criminal Record Checks

As we have been hearing from our agencies, this screening enhancement has had a significant impact on their volunteer recruitment process.

Due to the extra work volume generated, there have been lengthy delays in getting criminal records checks processed. This has resulted in programming delays and in some cases loss of prospective volunteers.

Apparently, there have also been some challenges at the other end for the RCMP who manage this piece. There have been issues, in particular, where private screening companies are contracted by the agency to process the PRCs. Other issues are with regard to incomplete information provided by the agency/volunteer.

Volunteer …

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