With Canada Day just around the corner, most of us are now deciding how to spend an extra day off.

Many of us take for granted the ability to see massive fireworks displays, watch colourful parades and wave tiny Canadian flags. Most Canada Day events are free and cater to the entire family.

However there is a hidden cost.

Volunteers allow events such as Canada Day to run smoothly. The thankless task sees them give up a much appreciated day off to provide top notch entertainment to the public as a whole. The work can result in long hours, however it’s integral to keep such events happening. Without volunteers, Canada day celebrations in the national park would be short indeed.

So it is welcome news that a new volunteer pool is beginning in Jasper. The volunteer pool will allow volunteers to place their name on a list and exert greater control over their commitment. Instead of dedicating hours towards planning events and attending meetings, volunteers can show up on the day and put their skills to use. Many volunteers aren’t interested in organizing an event, and simply want to perform smaller tasks on the day. There is no reason they need to attend organizational meetings for months prior if they will only serve lemonade on the actual day. 

The model has worked well in other communities, and also lends itself towards the creation of a volunteer co-ordinator position in town. With such a large number of organizations relying on volunteers, the position would be more than welcome.

It’s important for organizations to treat their volunteers well. However in smaller centres, it’s much too common to see the same handful of people running every event. Volunteer burn out is a real problem for towns of this size and the volunteer pool should allow frequent helpers some much needed time to ‘cool off.’

Within a recession, government and corporations are scaling back their budgets, casting more work onto the shoulders of volunteers. Hinton saw a similar issue with its Relay For Life, where two volunteers were forced to do the work of 20. The volunteer pool is recognition that volunteerism is becoming a major driver in many communities, as communities provide -for free - services that government and businesses used to fill.

Let’s give our valued volunteers a much needed helping hand.