We’re so appreciative of our amazing volunteers year-round at United Way British Columbia, but especially during National Volunteer Week, from April 19-25, we want to show our gratitude to them with a series of blogs and social media posts.
Barbara, a long-time donor, becomes a volunteer during COVID-19 crisis
Barbara’s journey with United Way started in the 1990s. She connected through a workplace campaign at West Coast Energy, her employer at the time, and has ever since been a valued donor.
Barbara’s mom participated in a United Way-funded program from 2008 to 2012 and she recalls it brought her mom much needed social connection and a sense of feeling valued later in her life.
When the COVID-19 crisis hit, Barbara used United Way’s new online tool, Mobilizing Local Love, to volunteer and help non profits in her neighbourhood that serve vulnerable people. Like many, she sought to counteract feelings of helplessness by volunteering in her own community.
The Mobilizing Local Love website matches prescreened volunteers with opportunities to help in their communities. After seeing a listing requesting washable facemasks Barbara dusted off her sewing machine to help out. The first 20 masks she sewed were sent to the Cloverdale Community Kitchen on April 9.
Making a difference in challenging times
“I am now able to help out on a whole other level which helps others,” says Barbara. “It helps me as well to feel like I am doing something to make a difference to communities at this very difficult time.”
Barbara’s volunteering with United Way-funded Cloverdale Community Kitchen has caused a ripple effect. She has since reached out to other food banks and community kitchens to offer to sew masks. She’s also recently received a United Way Local Love grant to help fund supplies to make even more masks. She credits her employer, BC Hydro, for giving her the security during COVID-19 to be able to help her community.
“I am so grateful to my employer BC Hydro to have made it so we can safely work from home and still do our job and make a living. We are all keeping connected and doing well and being there for each other,” says Barbara.
Inspired by local love
Acts of local love and kindness are having a huge impact on the lives of vulnerable people during COVID-19. While many people will take inspiration from Barbara’s act of local love, she is inspired by all the essential workers who continue to work and support the community.
“What inspired me were the unsung heroes that have become so very apparent at this difficult time: folks cleaning and collecting garbage in the hospitals, our community garbage and recycling workers, the food banks trying to help get food to people, the grocery store stockers and cashiers, pharmacists, veterinarians, the folks working at the care homes, people delivering meals to those who cannot fend for themselves,” says Barbara. “Be helpful, hopeful, patient, and kind. There’s no act of kindness that’s too small. It means so much.”
United Way has received an outpouring of support from volunteers like Barbara during the COVID-19 crisis. For 90 years working in community, United Way has been empowering volunteers to connect with vulnerable people right in their own neighbourhood. The Mobilizing Local Love website has received over 1,000 volunteer signups since launching on April 1, 2020.
Topics : Local love, Volunteers