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News Advertiser
APRIL 22, 2020
www.NewsAdvertiser.com
Anne Soldan Volunteers for Almost 72 years Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent
Anne Soldan has volunteered in Vegreville for nearly 72 years, and would recommend it to anyone. (Submitted/Photo)
Anne Soldan came to Vegreville from Andrew as a young bride of 17 years old. Since that time, she has volunteered for the Community of Vegreville and elsewhere for 72 years as of this coming June. “I volunteered for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Canadian Cancer Society where we canvassed for money to help them to raise funds. I also volunteered when my children were at school for Vegreville Skating Club, some of the hockey and for the Kinette Club of Vegreville, Royal Purple Ladies, I am on the board for the Senior Citizen Sunshine Club of Vegreville, I also volunteered for Canadian Red Cross, Vegreville Hospital’s Auxiliary, Canadian National Institution for the Blind (CNIB), and other clubs and places that are too numerous to name,” Anne said. When asked why she started volunteering, Anne said they were very poor 71 years ago and they volunteered to have a social life. “We didn’t have any money and we were just happy to get together. We used to pay 25 cents for a babysitter to go to a meeting. Then the most we could stay at the meeting was for two hours. I wasn’t the only one, we were all like that. Also, when I first moved to Vegreville I was working in a furniture store and people used to always tell me to come to the Royal Purple’s meeting and then they told me of another function and volunteering just
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tual relay race inside a large, user-built 3D virtual world. Visit cancer.org/involved/volunteer/societysecond-life.html. Assist the blind. Download the app Be My Eyes to help blind people accomplish everyday tasks. You’ll help out by lending your eyesight via live video call. Educate the impoverished. If you’re adept in finance or technology, you can help people in third-world countries rise out of poverty by passing on your knowledge and skills. Visit rhah.org. Provide emotional support. Engage in supportive conversations with people going through hard times. Visit 7cups.com. Translate. If you’re bilingual and have a knack for writing, volunteer to write translations for humanitarian and development projects. Visit translators-withoutborders.org. Transcribe historical documents. Help the Smithsonian Institution make historical documents and data more accessible by transcribing facsimiles of
ballooned from there. “I enjoy the camaraderie from volunteering; meeting other people. When I first started volunteering we had no cars or anything. So, we were isolated in a sense. But someone used to pick us up and we would then go to a meeting,” Anne said. Anne said there aren’t many challenges to volunteering that she can think of. “But we were dedicated and diligent in doing our work properly.” Anne closed by saying she would recommend for others to volunteer so they can get out and meet people.
Marg Varga helps V More Creativ Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent
Marg Varga is a Vegreville resident who has been volunteering for nine years. She volunteers for Vegreville Food Bank, Ducks Unlimited, Vegreville Visual Artists, and she participated in some of the Story Time programs at Vegreville Centennial Library. Marg went on to say she started volunteering because she had the time available after she retired from being a school teacher. “I enjoy volunteering because I retired and it was nice to be able to give back to the community. Then I was a teacher so working with people and helping people was part of what has been my life. So, it was nice to carry it on. Also, I enjoy seeing the people and being able to put my skills and interests to good use.” Marg said. When Marg was asked what the challenges were to volunteering, she replied it is being able to recognize when to delegate and not just take it on yourself to organize it so it is not just you doing it and being able to get a lot of people to do it. Marg then added that she would recommend for others to volunteer because the community always needs a spare hand; without volunteers a lot of things wouldn’t get done. “It is also rewarding. It gets people involved and gives them a purpose and makes them feel like they belong.” field notes, diaries, ledgers, manuscripts and other texts. Visit transcription.si.edu. If none of these opportunities speak to you, there are plenty of other ones available. Sites like volunteermatch.org and onlinevolunteering.org (a UN initiative) are great places to start.
