Celebrating one year of volunteer spirit in Peterborough

One year ago, we launched a volunteer-agency match-making site to make it easier for both sides of the equation to find each other.

Since then, more than 20,000 users have visited VolunteerPeterborough.ca a total of 111,000 times while clicking on 309,000 different items while exploring their options. That includes searching to find an organization that matches their interests and a role that suits their skills.

The journey hasn’t been perfect, but it has yielded tremendous results.

We have pages of heartfelt testimonials from volunteer recruiters who didn’t know where to turn after COVID gutted their programs. On the flip side, individuals looking to “get back out there” wanted to know more about the opportunities they could choose.

For example, Michele Menard found two gratifying roles while surfing our site:

“I have volunteered in various capacities since moving to Peterborough more than seven years ago, but I hadn’t done much since COVID,” Michele wrote to us. “I knew I needed to get back to doing something but I didn’t have a clear picture of what I wanted to do or what would best fit my skills and experience.

“I heard about Volunteer Peterborough on Facebook and my experience has been nothing short of amazing, fulfilling and fun!

“Through Volunteer Peterborough, I found The School for Young Moms and began cooking once a week for this wonderful organization. It’s deeply rewarding to provide nutritious meals to these new moms and moms-to-be. Knowing that I am making a positive impact on their lives has been heartwarming.”

However, she also found an opportunity for the summer months as well.

“Live music is one of my passions in life, so I also joined the crew of the Peterborough Folk Festival. I’m coordinating the Artisan Village this year, which has provided a behind-the-scenes look at everything that goes on.

“Volunteer Peterborough made it so easy to find and engage in meaningful volunteer opportunities that align with my passions,” Michele said. “I’ve always believed that service to others is the rent we pay for a fulfilling life and to have so much fun doing it is just a bonus!”

Likewise, Bridget Hall, Manager of Volunteer Services at PARN – Peterborough AIDS Resource Network, was so impressed that she joined Volunteer Peterborough as a committee member.

“Volunteer Peterborough allows us to do more direct recruiting outside our daily volunteer positions,” she said. “The process takes less than 10 minutes, starting with your agency’s profile and then uploading the position description.

“I like that we can manage our own listings and add new position descriptions when needed; you do not need to wait for an administrator to do it for you.

“When new volunteers are interested they call us directly from the contact information that was provided either on the position description or PARN profile. We at PARN at very excited to be part of this process.”

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can join today and find out what all the buzz is about.

The founding board would like to thank its partners for their support as we launched, including the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce, the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough, the Peterborough Foundation, Age-friendly Peterborough, the County of Peterborough, LLF Lawyers, Community Care, the New Canadians Centre and OPIRG.

It truly takes a village to make this type of change and we could not have accomplished what we have without the help from our own volunteer army. Also, thank you to the groups who have joined us and made the magic happen.

Onto even greater things next year!