FCSS hosts first annual volunteer fair

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Strathmore FCSS hosted what they are aiming to see become an annual volunteer fair at the Strathmore Civic Center on April 17.

The ultimate goals were to connect potential volunteers with organizations seeking a few extra hands, as well as to increase awareness about local opportunities for volunteerism. 

“In Strathmore, what we have been finding is there are small pockets of volunteerism that are going on, but we want to make it so it is large scale,” said Budd Brazier, FCSS community and social development manager. “Folks who do volunteer, we want to make them aware that there are other opportunities if they are eager to volunteer within the Town of Strathmore or within any organization.”

Historically, FCSS has conducted volunteer recruitment largely through social media and their volunteer connector web portal.

The event featured a similar-to trade show format where organizations seeking local volunteers had set up booths throughout the venue in order to be able to meet and interact with members of the public.

Among FCSS mandates, as well as being an expectation with the provincial government, is to maintain a base of volunteerism within a given municipality.

“We are looking … to reignite that initiative. We thought if we could do a volunteer fair and create some awareness, we may be able to let the town know, and then other opportunities for organizations to also do recruitment,” said Brazier. “Then, what we can do is, the provincial government would like to see some additional volunteerism, and from there we can report back to the government that we had this fair, and from it, came about, say, 15 new volunteers within the Town of Strathmore.”

Brazier added for FCSS, the idea is ultimately to have organizations come together and conduct recruitment.

Through events such as the volunteer fair, organizations seeking volunteers can be easily identified, the scope of local volunteerism can be increased, and access to volunteer opportunities becomes more widely known.

“As we move into the future, let’s get some metrics around, the first time we did this volunteer fair to the next year, and then see if we are increasing our volunteerism within the Town of Strathmore, and who these folks are volunteering with,” said Brazier. “(We can also gauge) … there particular regions that are typically short in volunteers or that are readily needing more hands-on deck to be able to help out.”

Brazier explained from the town’s perspective, they tend to struggle with recruiting volunteers through external events.

Other organisations such as Bridge the Gap and the Happy Gang are also regularly looking to recruit volunteers for their programs. 

For those who missed the Volunteer Fair but are still looking to learn more or themselves volunteer, they are encouraged to utilize the FCC page on the town website and the volunteer connector online portal.