Above: The Volunteer Night of the past will once again be replaced with individual grants to allow volunteer groups to reward their members as they see fit.
by Morinville News Staff
National Volunteer Appreciation Week runs Apr. 15 to 21 this year, and for the second year in a row, the Town of Morinville is offering community groups cash grants to help them show their volunteers a little appreciation.
Last year was the first year, the Town broke from the standard Volunteer Appreciation Awards Night in favour of grants and workshops.
Morinville organizations, community groups, sports teams, and other groups that use volunteers to assist with their events, programs, boards, and fundraisers can apply for a $200 grant per organization to help with their own volunteer appreciation efforts.
“The response from previous applicants is that this process (volunteer grants for organizations) is their preferred option as they can directly provide volunteer appreciation based on their volunteer needs within their group,” said Melonie Dziwenka, FCSS/Community Program Coordinator, in a Town release Wednesday.
The community groups can use the funding for swag, gas cards, a get-together with food, appreciation gifts, or something completely different.
“What is great about this format is that it is truly up to the group to create an appreciation specific to their volunteers,” Dziwenka said.
Deadline to apply is Mar. 30.
The volunteer grant application form can be downloaded here: http://morinville.ca/doc-library/forms/1087-2018-volunteer-appreciation-grant-form/file.
All cheques will be available for pickup by Apr. 20, 2018.
Volunteer workshops are also scheduled: April 12. These include Recruiting & Retaining Volunteers, Roles & Responsibilities of Non-Profit Boards.
Although the workshops are free; pre-registration is required.
More details on those workshops can be found at http://morinville.ca/community/volunteers.
