NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK ACTIVITIES
Successful Community Initiatives
Best Approaches:

An intensive, integrated campaign with multiple elements is effective. Any type of
saturated campaign ensures that everyone is aware and on board

Something new or different! – creates interest for people and the press

Something tried and true – many communities do the same events year after
year and always get a crowd.
Examples of National Volunteer Week Events in 2011:
St. Albert Community Information and Volunteer Centre
 held two events:
o Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at City Hall
o Volunteer Citizen of the Year/Leaders of Tomorrow Awards Banquet
 arranged for volunteer coffee coupons that could be used at several cafes
 involved agencies and asked them for their feedback/ideas
 started a Volunteer Friendly Business Award
 solicited numerous articles in local papers
 placed four different ads (event, nominations, week, thank you to sponsors)
 produced invitations, programs, tickets, etc. with consistent theme and visual
identity
Town of Beaumont FCSS
 Volunteer Appreciation Evening with refreshements and appetizers
 Featured formal speeches by the Mayor and other Town officials
 Philip Ki Joon Oh Volunteer award and Youth Volunteer of the Year award
presented to two volunteers
 Onstage entertainment that involved the crowd
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CiRS Red Deer
 Hosted the fourth annual Dessert Gala
 Local agencies featured their exceptional stories about volunteering
 Entertainment provided by a Polynesian dance group
 Local chocolatier donated a chocolate fountain to be used at the event
Volunteer Calgary
 Hosted the 15th annual Leadership Awards, which accepts nominations and recognizes
volunteers with a variety of different types of awards for different categories (Youth
volunteer, Senior volunteer, Pet volunteer)
 Videos are created honoring each award winner, and are shared on the Volunteer
Calgary website throughout the year
 Attended by Mayor of Calgary, Premier Stelmach
Town of Mirror
 Host a Volunteer Appreciation Potluck Dinner
 Also hosted Book Sale and Silent Auction
 Had the local Sparks, Brownie and Guides troupes speak about volunteerism and how
they can help in the community
The City of Leduc
 Third annual Volunteer Appreciation banquet with a theme of ‘We’re Sweet on our
Volunteers’ (candy themed)
 Formal dinner, entertainment and recognition award ceremony
 Held the Citizens of Distinctions Awards during National Volunteer Week.
 Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Association also held a breakfast with musical
entertainment, speeches from local dignitaries and a motivational speaker
Town of Stony Plain
 Flag raising ceremony with the mayor with a proclamation for National Volunteer Week
 Pancake Breakfast for volunteers
 Raise Your Glass youth event at public library, with pizza and fun games to win prizes
 Day at the Movies gift cards for organizations to purchase for volunteers which features
admission for two at local cinemas
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Town of Okotoks
 Hosted a booth at the Okotoks Trade and Lifestyle show to thank volunteers and to
promote volunteer opportunities in the area
 Booth featured skill testing questions with door prizes
 Promoted National volunteer Week with banners around town
 Volunteer Week Proclamation by the Mayor
 A Leaders of Tomorrow Awards Rotary Club Dinner where 4 awards were presented
Volunteer Lethbridge
 Volunteer Lethbridge and the local movie cinema distributed free tickets to member
organizations to give to their volunteers
 Flag raising to kick off NVW with MLAs and local City officials
 Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Awards evening
City of Wetaskiwin
 Media Relations Workshop hosted at the Wetaskiwin & District Museum, presentation
by Karen Lynch, Volunteer Alberta.
 11 restaurants take part in sponsoring free coffee for Volunteer Week.
 Volunteer Appreciation Night, catered dessert buffet. Features a PowerPoint
presentation of volunteers in action as sent in by local volunteer organizations. Lori-Ann
Muenzer, Canada’s first Olympic Gold Medalist in Cycling, was guest speaker.
 Volunteer Week Trivia Contest, prize includes one Vitalize registration, 1 night hotel and
parking costs.. The three trivia questions were pertaining to volunteer oriented activities
during Volunteer Week and the answers were in the Volunteer Week newsletter.
 Volunteer Week newsletter was circulated to 272 organizations by mail and fanned out
to over 100 organizations by e-mail.
Volunteer Wood Buffalo (Fort McMurrary)
 Kickoff to NVW event with children’s games, performers, face painting, musical
performances, reading of mayoral proclamation and awarding for the Bill Bloomfield
Award.
 Volunteer Wood Buffalo also helped smaller, rural communities celebrate NVW by
providing them with volunteer recognition awards for their own volunteers
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Information and Volunteer Centre for Strathcona County
 Kick Off to National Volunteer Week, handed out cake and volunteer awareness ribbons
to passersby at local mall
 2nd Annual Photo Contest, received photos from volunteers in the community
 IVC Crew – Volunteer Week Tour. Featured staff from the Volunteer Centre visiting
schools in the area and talking about volunteering, and shared NVW promotional items
with them. IVC crew also visited locations where people were actively volunteering and
thanked them for volunteering.

3rd Annual Ice Cream Social
 Promotional Items (banners, bookmarks, thank you cards, chocolates, ribbons) made
available for organizations
 Golden ‘upside down’ ribbons (to symbolize a V) handed out to local organizations and
volunteers throughout the week.
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