When Blackburn Community Association looked like it was going to come to an end about 18 months ago because of a lack of volunteers the board of directors put out a call.
About 100 members of the Blackburn community attended the annual general meeting to hear what the association needed.
When the official call for volunteers came, 13 hands went up.
One of those hands belonged to Jamie Kranrod, who was recently recognized for her volunteerism by the City of Prince George.
She was named a Community Champion, which for the first time honoured those who inspired others to take action, attract new volunteers, enhanced programs or services, championed new or innovative ideas and was considered a game changer, according to the description provided on the city's website.
"It certainly wasn't me, it was the group - and it's a pretty awesome group that's come together," Kranrod said. "We continue to work together on just building sustainability in the association by rebuilding its foundation."
Instead of having the community centre running only on volunteer power there's now a facilities director and there's more volunteers that support each community event, following the old adage "many hands make light work."
"We're working on strengthening partnerships and relationships," Kranrod said. "We're partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters to help to deliver the child care programs, working on strengthening our partnership with the City of Prince George and there's lots of new volunteers coming in."
The association has the community centre and R.J. Blackburn House to manage as well as the L'il Rascals day care, and several programs like Tots at Play/Kids in Motion, floor hockey and basketball for the children while up for offer for the grown ups are zumba, a fitness bootcamp, and yoga.
The Blackburn Community Centre has been there for 26 years.
"And there's dozens of people who have given more than 20 years of service - and still do, so to highlight me is kind of awkward - so I've been around for a year and a half - not the 20 some odd years and I think that's really, really important to acknowledge them because dozens have people have literally carried it on their shoulders for a very long time," the longtime Blackburn resident said.
Because she volunteered at Big Brothers Big Sisters for the last decade, Kranrod said she knows non-profits are changing and she doesn't believe organizations will be sustainable relying only on volunteers any longer.
"My contributions have been to bring in more organizational capacity and have a creative business model where the buildings are sustaining themselves financially," Kranrod said, who manages a business she owns with her husband, Tyson. "There's been some really incredible people who have come on board."
The association has been able to garner sponsorship from local businesses to help with sustainability.
"There'd never been a sponsorship package before and that's something we worked as a group," Kranrod said about the revitalization of the association and its buildings.
The community centre and the school are the nucleus of Blackburn, Kranrod said.
"Why I got involved is the same as everybody else - we're all very passionate about community and there's something about living in the Blackburn area where there's still that distinct community feeling," Kranrod said, whose two sons Cole, 9 and Tyler, 5, attend Blackburn school. "I feel that my involvement and all those that got involved was more about being in support of all the people who kept it going for the last 26 years. When someone comes forward and says 'hey, we're having trouble' and you think you have something to offer - it was like I hoped I could offer something."
As a community association it's sustainable now and that's a relief to all those involved, she added.
"We want to bring in more things to help develop the community," Kranrod said.
Volunteerism has changed as the volunteers have changed and everyone who is willing to give of their time is welcome.
"Part of this is to try to re-brand and say 'hey it can be anything'," Kranrod said about volunteering. "Maybe somebody feels like popping by and weeding the garden. It could be absolutely anything and it doesn't have to be everything and I think there's some rebuilding around that."
It's all about investing time in the things you hold dear.
"I love Prince George and I love the Blackburn area," Kranrod said. "I love the people, I love the school, I love the community and I would venture to say 95 per cent of the people that live out there would say the same thing."
