A warm hello, attentive listening, a discreet helping hand, sharing useful information… These small acts create safety, trust, and connection. They make our neighbourhoods more human.
At the VBM, we honour the full spectrum of kindness. Among these gestures, we highlight volunteering, because it offers a framework and continuity to the desire to support one’s community.

Kindness: a continuum of useful actions

Kindness shows up in many equally important ways:

• Everyday micro-gestures: saying thank you, holding the door, sharing a ride, explaining a form, translating information, pointing someone to a helpful resource.

• One-off support: helping prepare a school activity, joining a clothing drive, cooking for a neighbour, lending a hand at a local event.

• Organized commitments (volunteering): welcoming participants, helping with logistics at a food distribution, supporting a campaign, contributing a skill within a defined assignment.

Is volunteering a form of kindness?

Volunteering is a form of kindness expressed within an organized framework and in service of a social cause. In practice, you offer your time and talents to a nonprofit or collective initiative, in a defined role, with orientation, training, and support. This framework enables action with continuity, safety, and equity, while meeting real needs (welcoming, food assistance, events, administration, awareness-raising, etc.).

Why spotlight volunteering today?

Because it extends kindness over time and structures it where needed:

• it strengthens essential services (reception, accompaniment, event logistics, administrative support);

• it creates clear reference points for both those receiving help and those volunteering;

• it makes it possible to measure outcomes and improve practices (training, safety, inclusive policies).

Volunteering doesn’t replace everyday kindness; it gives it a place and tools when the community needs them.

Concrete ways to spread kindness (at your own pace)

• Today: take 2 minutes to thank someone or an organization that helped you; share their page or service with someone who could benefit.

• This week: do a small “invisible” act (leave an encouraging note, pass along clear info about a service, offer to accompany someone at a service counter).

• Whenever you’re ready: curious about an organized commitment? Explore volunteer roles with a nonprofit (greeting, event support, kitchen help, tabling, simple administrative tasks, communications support, etc.).

None of these choices is “better” than the others: they complement each other.

How the VBM can help (if and when you want)

• Find your role: not sure what would fit you? Our advisors can help you orient your choice.

• Team/company engagement: our Work at Heart (Cœur au travail) program supports activities tailored to the real needs of nonprofits.

• Just want to stay in the loop? Subscribe to our newsletters and follow our channels, that’s already a kind gesture toward the community network.