News from Volunteer Canada 

Give a Day, Get a DisneyDay

Volunteer Canada is proud to announce that BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2010, when you sign up to volunteer for a day with a participating organization (and your volunteer commitment is completed and verified) you'll receive a one day admission pass to a Walt Disney World® or Disneyland® theme park, FREE! Disney Parks, working with Volunteer Canada and HandsOn Network, hopes to inspire families to volunteer in their communities during 2010 through this first-of-its-kind program. 

Give a Day, Get a Disney Day information for Canadian nonprofit organizations and volunteer centres  Click here 

Give a Day, Get a Disney Day information for Canadian volunteers Click here

Family Volunteering

What a great way to spend time together, create memories, share experiences, and communicate about what is important – family volunteering!  Whether your ‘family’ is one child and one parent, a group of siblings, a grandparent and grandchild, or a group of two or more people who consider themselves a family – this experience can teach values of compassion, kindness, tolerance and citizen engagement. Everyone has talents to share – everyone can feel valued – everyone can have fun!

Tips for Success

• Be a good example – let your family see you volunteering. Do not complain about your volunteer commitments – rather celebrate how good it feels to be connected to something that matters to you.
• Choose a hands-on project that children can feel ownership and see results. Take the time to talk about your interests, skills, talents.
• How available is your family?  Do you want to try a one-time event or make a commitment to doing something over a period of time?
• Ensure success by finding a short-term and simple opportunity. The project should fit the ages of your family.
• Talk about what you want to experience and learn. Do you want to meet new people? Perhaps interact with new cultures or economic groups? Do you want to be part of a larger team or do sometime independent?
•  Celebrate your involvement – take pictures, share your stories with others.
• Reinforce the positive moments. Talk about what you experienced and plan for your next volunteer adventure!

Some volunteering ideas for families

• Family tutoring or mentoring with another family
• Organizing a community garden or playground
• Delivering Meals-On-Wheels
• Reading, playing games or entertaining at a seniors home
• Get involved in your community association
• Help collect food, clothing or toys for shelters and food banks
• Organizing a party at a shelter
• Helping the elderly or housebound with yardwork/snowsholving
• Collect pledges for a fundraiser
• Organize a block party or street dance
• Family outings with mentally or physically challenged people
• Painting and making repairs

For organizations

Barb Gemmell of Gemmell Training and Consulting states that “family volunteering is often the only way busy people are able to incorporate volunteering into their lives, so it is important to incorporate this option into your programs.”

To learn more on how to be a more “family-friendly” organization – click here