CAMPBELL RIVER, BC – Campbell River is a generous community.
Tiesha Schmuland, Volunteer Campbell River’s volunteer and community engagement coordinator, said they want to give back to volunteers by empowering them.
Youth Can 20/20 is a federally funded initiative which Schmuland said will hopefully help youth aged 15 to 30 engage more with their community.
“We’re going to provide training opportunities, mentorships, a chance for young people to explore and grow personal skills,” Schmuland said.
She added that through the program, they hope to have youth-planned and led events.
“(We want them) to be able to do things that consider how they would love to volunteer in the community, and our staff and team can help make those ideas become reality.”
“Some youth want to get involved in an existing agency that they care about and dig right into that cause, but others see something in the community that’s missing or that they want to have happen. We’re also going to help with those projects.”
Schmuland said they will train volunteers for positive risk-taking, team building, project management, leadership, as well as offer employment readiness skills training.
She added they already have a few youth-led projects slated for later in the year. These include a fall film festival and a “Month that Matters” for July, a project that will help high school students get their volunteer hours through daily community events.
Youth Can 20/20 started its run in April, and will go on until March 2020. Those interested can also
A launch party is scheduled for Thursday June 20th at Volunteer Campbell River’s offices. Those interested can drop by from 4:00pm to 7:00pm.
“Our hope is that volunteers will increase with young people, as it would with everyone.”
“We certainly hope that not only will the volunteers increase in numbers, but also in the dedication and the passion, so they can really see how they give their time in volunteerism can make a difference in their community.”
