Volunteer Ottawa Knows How to do a Community Impact Day!
This week we are so fortunate to feature a guest blog from Volunteer Ottawa. Founded in 1957, Volunteer Ottawa is one of many volunteer centres across Canada.Volunteer Ottawa connects people to one another and to hundreds of local charities that rely on the time and talent of volunteers. We provide supports and services to promote and celebrate volunteerism, help volunteers find opportunities, strengthen non-profit capacity through training and networking, inspire diversity and inclusion, and encourage local employers to invest in the community.
Last year, Volunteer Ottawa helped Export Development Canada (EDC) with its biggest Community Impact Day ever! VO has helped organize this annual event with EDC for 8 years, and in 2024 it coincided with EDC’s employee conference in Ottawa. 1600 EDC employees from Ottawa, across Canada, and around the world gathered on June 6 to donate their time and talent to 40 organizations across Ottawa and region.
The volunteers received a warm welcome and some of the activities were featured in local news, like the tree planting activity at Ottawa Community Housing. Roughly 4,800 hours were donated to achieve impressive results, including:
Hundreds of sandwiches and Hope Bags made for the Ottawa Mission
Over 60 donations of blood and plasma to the Canadian Blood Services
Hundreds of walkers raised awareness for CARE Canada
Piles of invasive plants like buckthorn removed for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - Ottawa Valley Chapter and the Riverview Park Community Association
Gardening, cleaning & beautification projects across the city for organizations like Ottawa Community Housing Corporation, Mādahòkì Farm, Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard, Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, and many more
The organizations hosting volunteers reported that EDC employees were smiling (despite often being soaking wet) and worked hard – in many cases completing more work than anticipated!
Thank you to all the participating organizations and to the many EDC employees who donated time and talent.