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As the Looking Glass Volunteer Coordinator, it makes my heart soar to see volunteers all across Canada being recognized and celebrated during National Volunteer Week! Volunteers give so much more than just their time: they give their passion, their drive, and their spirit. At the Looking Glass Foundation, our volunteers make it possible for us to offer the kind of meaningful support that can have such a profound impact on eating disorder sufferers, their families, and their communities – programs that simply could not happen without the generosity of volunteers.
I know that all of this is true, because I work with Looking Glass volunteers every day. I hear their stories, and I learn about their motivations and their hope for a world without eating disorders. Some of our volunteers have found their own recovery with the support of Looking Glass programs, and they want a chance to give back. Or, they recognize that our programs could have helped them or a loved one with a past eating disorder struggle, and they are seeking an opportunity to provide that kind of support today. Others come to us simply because they can see that the Looking Glass is a powerful agent of positive change in the field of mental health, and they want to be a part of that change. These are the kinds of people who volunteer with LGF: compassionate, inspiring, everyday heroes.
Being a volunteer pretty much means doing a good thing, and not getting paid for it. And yet, every single week I’m signing up fresh new volunteer recruits who are eager to step up out of the goodness of their hearts to help us implement LGF’s essential eating disorder support services! The Looking Glass hosts a diverse community of over 500 volunteers – and it’s growing all the time. It is my absolute privilege to be able to work with this population, in a job that is built entirely upon the generosity of others, and to fill the Looking Glass volunteer programs with the most wonderful humans. Humans who are willing to challenge themselves, and to tap into their own innate resilience in order to build up someone else’s. Whether it’s through Online Peer Support, Summer Camp, Hand in Hand, Blogging, Social Media, Gala & Events, or Youth Engagement, our volunteers are putting themselves out there and showing the world that there is such a thing as getting to the other side of eating disorders.
Of course, Looking Glass volunteers deserve more than just a week of gratitude and accolades for their contributions, but National Volunteer Week does present the perfect opportunity to shine the spotlight on some of our own dedicated volunteers! All through April 23rd – 29th, we will be posting and sharing special profiles of our volunteers in a social media campaign. Feel free to join in using the hashtags #NVW2017 and #LGFVolunteers, and share your own memories, photos, video clips, and experiences. To submit a volunteer profile, just send an email to katalina@lookingglassbc.com with your responses to the following questions:
The Looking Glass reserves the right to edit for length and clarity, but we will share every volunteer profile that is submitted between now and April 29th!
On behalf of the Foundation’s staff, Board, donors, and program recipients: THANK YOU for all that you do.
Happy National Volunteer Week, everyone!
Katalina Bernards,
Volunteer Coordinator
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Kat recently graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Psychology, and is thrilled to have joined the Looking Glass Foundation staff. She loves live music, theatre, writing, and singing when no one is listening.
For residential treatment facility
information contact the
Looking Glass Residence:
Phone:
604.829.2585
Fax:
604.829.2586
Toll Free:
1.888.980.5874
