History

In the early days, the Volunteer Centre consisted of a telephone and an answering machine at the home of President Joan Zamluck. Joan and Board members visited prospective volunteers at their homes to arrange referrals. In 1991 the Centre moved to shared office space on Ironwood, and in 1992 to its present location in the basement of Municipal Hall.

The Centre’s early funding was unreliable. Margo Brunt traversed the Great Walk from Gold River to Tahsis to raise funds in 1992 and the Catholic Women’s League was very supportive. The Board secured a Bingo License and a grant from New Horizons paid for equipment and volunteer training. The Society also became a United Way member agency and received its first grant from the Ministry of Social Services. Present day funding includes continued support from Bingo and our own fundraising events throughout the year.

Gail Shaw was appointed Coordinator in 1992, as the centre increased its community profile. Del Hannem was Coordinator throughout the negotiations to move to Municipal Hall and Sally Czabaniuk became Coordinator in the new location. Michelle Zylstra succeeded Sally in November of 1996, and Glenn Turner acted as Executive Director from May 2000 to March 2002. Wendy Wilson became the Volunteer Centre Coordinator from March 2002 – August 2007. Currently Louise Howes is the Executive Director and Aolani Delorme is the Administrative Coordinator.

The Volunteer Centre operates with both paid  staff and our amazing volunteers that include office admin, volunteer advisor, tech support, and a Board of Directors.

Successful ventures over the years include the Community Income Tax Program, National Volunteer Week, National Tag Day, Brown Bag Lunch meetings, one-day workshops for Volunteer Managers, annual Volunteer and Community Information Fair, monthly newsletters, and the building of a Resource Library.