Speech April of 2011 Volunteer Tea

Volunteer Tea Speech by Mayor Garth Harris

 

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our annual Volunteer Tea.

 

Volunteers are the heart and soul of our community. They give of their time freely expecting nothing in return but a sense of pride in knowing that they have helped make our community the great place it is to live in.

 

A volunteer takes on the role not to be paid but to perform to the best of their abilities out of the goodness of their hearts. It is done not for the recognition, but for the sheer sense of knowing that the giving of your time has made a difference. I look out amongst all of you today and feel a great sense of pride. Preeceville can be very proud of its volunteer base. Today, we recognize and say Thank You to each of you for, without your help, we would not have the wonderful community we live in and are proud to call our home.

 

This volunteering does not just happen; it takes Vision, Energy and Talent. It requires skill and will. “Volunteers do not come free.” You need to have leadership in your volunteers, managerial skills and knowledge to be successfully.  

 

This recession is real and our voluntary organizations are feeling it. It is financial, donations are down, and people are not giving as generously as in the past. There are also more and more causes to give to and invest in each year. Grants from our governments take time to write and seen harder to win for our community or organizations. So as you can see volunteering is not a marginal activity, it is what we think of when we say “Quality of life “.

 

Your Town Council invest in infrastructure and is the foundation that assures our volunteers are effective in providing all of our services, programs and projects. The other investment must be made in our volunteers themselves because they are the ones who can stimulate our “Quality of life “just as much as the town’s investments in the bricks that make that  foundation.  A very small investment for that “Quality of life “we have all come to love.

 

 I applaud and thank each of you for your past efforts and your future endeavours for we would be nowhere without the continued help of all of you.