National Volunteer Week runs from April 24-30 and here in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, FuseSocial is using the time to thank all the volunteers in the region.

Jenna Fewer, Wood Buffalo Volunteer Centre Coordinator with FuseSocial describes their organization as a great way for volunteers to get connected with opportunities in the community through their website platform.

“Organizations that utilize the power of volunteers can post their volunteer opportunities that a volunteer can respond to on the website,” Fewer explains. “We’ve got over 6,000 volunteers on the website and over 130 local social profit organizations that utilize our platform.”

Every April, Volunteer Canada leads the celebration with a theme, with this year’s: “Volunteering is Empathy in Action.”

“Being that this is the theme, this year we really wanted to make sure that we got people involved and hopefully inspire people to get them into the community to volunteer together,” Fewer Said.

With public health restrictions lifting in the province, she noted that more large in-person events were coming up in the region.

Wood Buffalo 2023 Arctic Winter Games Host Society recently partnered up with FuseSocial to help them reach their volunteer recruitment needs of nearly 2,000 volunteers.

Fewer commented that the Athabasca Tribal Council Cultural Festival will also be requiring roughly 2,000 volunteer shifts for their upcoming event on Sept. 8-11.

FuseSocial’s closing celebrations for Volunteer Week on Saturday will be at Paddy McSwiggins where Fewer said, “people can connect with like-minded individuals, hear from social profit organizations, hear live entertainment, win prizes, and have some complimentary deep-fried pickles. Because we think our volunteers are kind of a big dill.”