Devoting personal time to make the community better takes dedicated hearts and minds.
For two Prince George women, the best thing about giving is how much it gives back.
Kathy Nadalin, 65, has volunteered at the Elder Citizens Recreation Association Centre since she first walked in to buy tickets to a show there nine years ago.
"It took me two and a half hours to get out of there because there were so many people I knew that just wouldn't let me go until we were all caught up," said Nadalin.
This is National Volunteer Week and Statistics Canada reports there are more than 13 million Canadians who volunteered in 2010 or 47 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15. In 2004, Prince George had the highest number of volunteers per capita in the province.
Nadalin, who retired from Telus a decade ago only to take up an almost full-time volunteer position at the centre, is one shining example of the volunteers in Prince George.
A 35-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star, which focuses on raising funds for cancer research, Nadalin has been president of the Elder Citizens Recreation Association for three years, and has also been secretary of the Telus Community Ambassadors Club in Prince George for the last eight years.
Nadalin's volunteerism isn't just about going to meetings and sitting on boards.
She scrubs dishes in the centre's kitchen, spring cleans the facility, and helps make thousands of pounds of cookie dough for the group's annual cookie dough fundraiser.
Nadalin even brought in a frontline program called the Angel Project for those in hospital who have lost their babies at birth.
These are tough jobs but so important, Nadalin said, who also applies for grants and handles the advertising for the centre. She teaches line dancing on Tuesdays, sings in the Forever Young Chorus on Thursdays, and crochets occasionally for the crafting corner where handmade knitwear is sold.
Years ago as Nadalin would listen to the seniors tell their stories she always thought "someone should write a book." So she did. With Agnes Leslie, they created The Book: Memoirs of Our Members, with the help of a $2,500 grant from the Prince George Community Foundation. The grant covered printing costs and then when the books were sold, all proceeds were directed to the Elder Citizens Recreation Association.
"This is one of my proudest accomplishments," said Nadalin of the two-year volunteer project.
The Elder Citizens Recreation Association receives an annual gaming grant of $71,000 and then must raise the remainder of the total operating costs of $310,000 independently.
"The people down at the centre don't want anything from me but my time," she said. "And I can do that but not without the complete support of my husband, Lino, who is there for me always with whatever I need. I couldn't do any of this without all the many volunteers we have at the centre."
Volunteering is about caring for others and that devotion crosses the generations.
Sufey Chen, 18, is another star local volunteer. This brilliant young woman was Prince George's Youth of the Year in 2010 and is currently a third year bio-medical sciences student at UNBC.
Over the years, Chen has volunteered for as many as 15 community organizations at a time but now she narrows her focus and gives few things more of her time.
"PG's Got Talent is kind of my life right now - this is my baby," said Chen of the May 5 variety show at the Prince George Playhouse. "You meet people who have a completely different talent from you and it just expands your whole scope of what's out there. And when you watch these people, they're just incredible."
Chen's voice rises to a joyous lilt as she describes how a young singer who was so nervous as she sang on stage during rehearsal blossomed with some guidance and coaching from others in the show into a sassy confident singer working the entire stage.
"That just makes me so happy," said Chen. "And it's just so important to help people become better at what they do."
In the past, Chen has given time to organizations like the Red Cross, Exploration Place, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, the YMCA, an anti-human-trafficking initiative, as well as participating in musical theatre, speech arts, plays, teaching and playing piano, coaching cross country skiing, and coaching and performing in figure skating.
She's even been a Chinese lion dancer.
Now she travels the world, mainly going to Asian countries to coach debating and judging it here in Prince George.
"The reason why I do it is because I love it," said Chen.
There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities available in all areas of interest for residents who find something they love doing, said Volunteer PG program manager Jo Nore.
"Volunteers in Prince George mentor our children, feed our hungry, comfort our lonely, beautify our green spaces, fundraise for our charitable organizations and more. Prince George volunteers are young, old, families, workers, retirees, men and women of all ages and backgrounds."
Investors Group is presenting $1,500 to Volunteer PG today at Pine Centre as part of National Volunteer Week.
