The past year has been marked by many significant challenges, including family members having to be apart from each other; businesses and child–care facilities being closed, and the list goes on.  

However, despite these challenges, volunteers have continued to offer tremendous support to Terra and many other Non-profit agencies. Through their generosity, volunteers have showed those most vulnerable among us that their community genuinely cares for them.  

Even with the shutdown of many of our volunteer roles, and our buildings being closed to the public, our dedicated Terra volunteers still managed to contribute more than 135 hours between January and March this year alone, while supporting donation pick up and drop offs; the delivery of food hampers from the NE Hub; making in-kind-donations; and even supporting the agency financially! 

Two of our volunteers were acknowledged at our AGM in March this year, for their outstanding contributions.

 

Mariah spearheaded the clothes closet reorganization, while helping with picking up donations and delivering items to Braemar school. Ruth helped to recruit other volunteers, helped with the clothes closet by picking up and delivered donations, and regularly checked in to see how she could help our families.  

Community organizations also play a significant role in supporting the agency. 

  • The Salvation Army – has continued their weekly support our lunch program at Braemar school. 
  • The Rotary Club of Edmonton South – in addition to their financial contributions, also supplied us with volunteers to help with the C5 Pantry Program 
  • The Host Lions Club – making gift-in-kind donations and willing to help us with our summer BBQ if needed. 
  • St. John Church – supporting us at the clothes closet, C5 Pantry Program, and lunch deliveries for our first Laughs Over Lunch fundraising event.  

This last year has shown us that the power of many is far greater than all the challenges thrown at us by the COVID pandemic. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our volunteers, all of whom stepped out of their comfort zone to help us, even in the face of the difficulties we are all dealing with.  

Terra holds paramount, the safety of the participants we serve, our volunteers and staff and we are delighted to say that we have no reported incidences of COVID within out volunteer team, or staff members. We are thankful that we have been able to keep each other safe. And it is on this note that we also say thank you to those volunteers and community members who chose to step back, for their own protection and that of their family, as they recognized, this is also another way in which they can help to keep our community safe.   

National Volunteer Appreciation Week gave Terra another opportunity to publicly acknowledge and celebrate those people who give so much and ask nothing in return – our volunteers. We celebrated our volunteers during this week, but we are grateful and appreciative to them, every day of the year.  

Our sincere thanks!