BARRHEAD - Volunteers make a huge difference in a community. And fortunately for Barrhead, it has some great volunteers.
The message of gratitude was echoed throughout the Barrhead volunteer celebration breakfast, held on April 17 at Bethel Pentecostal Church.
While the event's purpose was to thank the community's volunteers, its true motive was to honour Barrhead's special volunteers who continually go above and beyond the Barrhead community volunteerism awards recipients.
Barrhead and District Family Community Support Services (FCSS) volunteer coordinator Darin Flemmer said he has, through his job, had the pleasure of meeting and working with several volunteers.
"I see the incredible work volunteers do daily and what their efforts mean for people whose lives they touch," he said. "Whether you are a child, adult or senior in Barrhead, you are likely to be the beneficiary of one to several of the volunteer services available in our community."
Flemmer added that volunteers' importance and impact can especially be seen during emergencies, such as last summer when wildfires forced the mandatory evacuation of entire communities, including Swan Hills.
Brenda Visser, the 2023 Barrhead long-service award winner and a lifelong volunteer with several organizations, including the Barrhead Agricultural Society, Barrhead Minor Hockey Association, and St. John's Luther Church, said volunteers' impact on people's lives cannot be understated, but she worries that volunteerism is dying.
"Any organization will tell you that finding volunteers is becoming increasingly difficult. We cannot let it become a lost art," she said.
Visser said that is why people must model the importance of volunteering to the younger generations.
And when Visser refers to the younger generation, she means anyone from a toddler to someone in their 40s.
She said if she ever needed to remember how vital volunteerism is, she could look to her older siblings and other family members, such as her brother-in-law Reinhold Koberstein, long-time coach of the Barrhead Elks Junior 'B' hockey team. All of them took volunteering to heart.
"It is essential and worthwhile to give your time to something outside yourself," Visser said. "Volunteering has always been important to me. It is one of the ways I connect with my community."
Her first volunteer experience was as a Sunday school teacher at her church, followed by serving as president of her high school student union and yearbook editor.
As she grew older and started a family, Visser's volunteering efforts focused on organizations involving her children and grandchildren.
"Volunteering or serving is of the utmost importance," Visser said. I've always encouraged everyone I know to invest their time and effort to become part of the solution and not stay in the background and be part of the problem. I truly wish that we could find a way to teach and encourage people of all ages the importance of volunteering, and I want to challenge everyone in this room to think of ways to be the answer to the problem."
