Volunteering with Benefits!

UnitedNow, a council of twenty-somethings volunteering with the United Way of Greater Victoria, works to raise awareness and develop understanding of key issues that impact individuals and families living throughout the Capital Regional District.

Their most recent endeavour, with the support of Volunteer Victoria, touches on volunteerism, getting connected and having fun – all in one evening! Volunteering with Benefits offers attendees the opportunity to bid on auction items with volunteer hours rather than dollars. Last year, 290 volunteer hours were raised, and the event was sold out!

This year, auction items range from lunch with a CEO to some great gift certificates. Smaller auction items will be available for those who might want to initiate their volunteering experiences with shorter commitments. UnitedNOW will showcase their “Day of Caring” events and guest agencies will be at the event to give those interested an idea of what kind of volunteer opportunities are available – Haliburton Farm, Help Fill a Dream Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and of course, Volunteer Victoria!

Volunteering with Benefits will be held on Friday, April 15th from 7-10pm at the Marriott Inner Harbour Hotel, and tickets are $10. Tickets can be purchased through Leanna at Volunteer Victoria leanna@volunteervictoria.bc.ca, or through United Way at 250-220-7359 or unitednow@uwgv.ca


Volunteering with United Now

The following is a post co-written by myself and United Now team members sharing their volunteer experiences in support of National Volunteer Week. We thank them for their important contributions!
 
To kick off National Volunteer Week, a team of volunteers from United Now took a couple of hours on Saturday morning to revitalize the garden at one of Threshold Housing Society’s youth transitional housing units. About 10 volunteers got their hands dirty pulling weeds, mixing soil and planting flowers and herbs. They even started planting a vegetable garden for the youth to incorporate into their meals. They also had a chance to learn more about the important services Threshold provides for youth aged 16-21 in Victoria.
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On Sunday, the United Now team held a clothing drive for the Victoria Youth Empowerment Society and were overwhelmed by the ammount of youth-appropriate clothing dontated. People were welcome to drop by with their gently used clothing, have a snack and learn about different ways to get involved in their community. Volunteer Victoria was also there to help people navigate their online database that lists about 800 local volunteer opportunities.
Stopping by to donate clothes.

Stopping by to donate clothes.

Bags of gently used clothing!

Bags of gently used clothing!

Upcoming United Now events:
If you want to learn more about what’s happening in your community, meet new people and find out about volunteer opportunities, join the United Now team to celebrate National Volunteer Week. This event takes place at the Sticky Wicket on Friday, April 23 between 5-7pm. There will be free appies, speakers and door prizes. Why not come by and try a ‘voluntini’ with some friends before the Canuks game? Hope to see you there!
 
Join the United Now team for a morning of volunteering on Saturday April, 24 from 10am-12:30pm at one of the most ecologically sensitive restoration sites in the CRD. This site only has one remenant mature Garry Oak tree left and volunteers are needed to remove invasive plants, conduct ecological inventories and plant native species to protect the Garry Oak.
 
To participate in any of these events, RSVP to unitednow@uwgv.ca or call 250-385-6708 ext. 236 AND become a fan on Facebook to keep updated on upcoming events.
 




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