At the Volunteer Bureau of Montreal (VBM), we see every week how volunteering creates real change. A phone call to accompany an older adult. An online form filled out to help a neighbourhood organization. An email from a newly arrived person who wants to get involved to get to know their city better.

On this International Volunteer Day, we want to say thank you. Thank you for choosing this path, which makes Montreal more caring, more accessible and more inclusive.

Actions that truly make a difference

Your commitment translates into very concrete actions. When you get involved through VBM, you help to:

• deliver meals at home so that older adults can stay in their own homes

• break isolation through a phone call, a visit or an activity

• support people who have difficulty reading, writing or understanding documents

• welcome, orient and reassure people within organizations that are often overwhelmed

• strengthen teams by contributing your skills in management, finance, communications, translation or governance.

Every hour given, every assignment accepted, allows essential organizations to keep going, respond to more requests and keep their doors open.

Volunteering, access and inclusion

At VBM, access and inclusion are at the heart of what we do. Your volunteering directly contributes to this.

When you take the time to translate information, to use plain language, to adapt to a person living with a functional limitation, to respect someone’s name, pronouns or identity, you are doing more than “lending a hand.” You are helping to remove barriers.

Your presence allows people who face linguistic, physical, social or economic obstacles to access resources, services and support they might otherwise have given up on. You help create environments where more people can feel they belong.

As many paths as there are volunteers

Through VBM, we see a wide diversity of journeys:

• newly arrived people who get involved to build connections

• students who contribute while learning

• people who are employed and offer their expertise to an organization

• retired people who remain active at the heart of their community

• people who once received support and now choose to give back.
   

Some volunteer every week, others a few times a year. Some actions are visible, others happen behind the scenes. All of them matter.

Thank you, quite simply

On behalf of VBM and the many organizations we support, we want to say:

Thank you for choosing the path of volunteering.
Thank you for supporting organizations that play an essential role in the lives of individuals and communities.
Thank you for making your engagement a lever for access, inclusion and dignity.

Every action counts. Every volunteer counts.
And for all of this, thank you for being there.