About: Dawn Wilkinson

World-class performers, hands-on creative experiences, exposure to the arts and children focused – that in a nutshell describes the Interior Savings Fat Cat Children’s Festival. Scheduled for June 7-8, 2013 at Waterfront Park in Kelowna, the success of this Festival is due in large part to a vibrant team of volunteers who help create the more »

CARP – A New Vision of Aging for Canada is a national organization devoted to seniors’ advocacy, benefits and community. CARP has chapters scattered across Canada, including seven chapters in British Columbia. The Okanagan chapter, with 1800 members from Osoyoos to Sicamous, hosts a number of public events for its members each year. This year, more »

Are you taking time this week to thank the volunteers active in your life? Now is the perfect time because it is National Volunteer Week, April 21 – 27, 2013. Volunteers surround us. In the Central Okanagan we volunteer at a higher rate (53%) than the BC (49%) or Canadian (47%) average, according to the more »

People who work full-time volunteer more than we realize. Statistics Canada just released a study called “Social Participation of Full-time Workers, 2010”. Look around your office. For every five co-workers between the ages of 25 to 54, one volunteered five or more hours each month on a regular basis. Employees who have flexible start and more »

With the warm weather come special events that offer lots of ways to involve volunteers of all ages, skills, backgrounds and time commitment. I recently found a tip sheet from Volunteer Alberta that outlines 10 steps for successful volunteer engagement in community events (http://volunteeralberta.ab.ca). First, make it fun. People who enjoy what they do, do more »