The Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) wants to formally thank its volunteers.
“There are a lot of people in our town that make this place so much better through their volunteer efforts in so many ways,” said TBM Mayor Alar Soever. “So, it's great that we're taking up this initiative to recognize some of them for their efforts.”
Councillor Peter Bordignon, who serves as chair of the town's Grants and Donations Committee, presented a notice of motion to council at a meeting held on Monday.
“I have been working on this for a while. It is a recognition program to recognize the volunteers in town and not just fiscally. There are people that do not give any money but they volunteer at every event.” said Bordignon.
The motion stems from a Grants and Donations Committee meeting held on Aug. 7 where committee members reflected on the town’s recent Lobsterfest event.
“These events can't happen unless we have a strong volunteer base,” said Councillor Rob Sampson. “We literally had an army of people come out and support this event and get this thing done.”
Sampson also noticed a lot of new faces at the event.
"That, to me, is a really important indicator of the depth of the volunteer base that we have in the town,” he added.
On Monday, TBM council directed staff to develop a report on forming a community volunteer recognition program.
The report will provide the council with further details on who will manage the initiative and how volunteers will be recognized.
“We used to have the Order of The Blue Mountains program. I miss having that opportunity to recognize these volunteers,” said Deputy Mayor Rob Potter.
The program is expected to acknowledge town staff, local philanthropists, stakeholders, and volunteers who make contributions to the community through volunteer efforts.
Bordignon said he would like to see the program acknowledge volunteers at every event, as well as annually.
“There are people that give money, there are people that give time and there are staff members that are going above and beyond. I want to recognize people in each of these categories,” he added.
