How to be a good Samaritan — and more
Concordia's ninth annual Volunteer Fair takes place on October 10. | Photo courtesy the LIVE Centre
Selina Melo, a fourth-year student in psychology at Concordia, began her volunteering career when she was in high school. She helped out at a daycare; during CEGEP, there was a stint in a women’s shelter, and in Melo’s second year at university, she volunteered for a sexual abuse hotline.
Melo is one of 12.5 million Canadians who, according to Volunteer Canada, spend a culmulative 2.1 billion hours a year volunteering. And, as visitors to Concordia’s Volunteer Fair on October 10 will discover, it’s an activity that offers benefits on all sides.
Although Melo found it difficult to spend so much time talking to victims of abuse, she says the hotline job provided her with invaluable experience. “It was something that I wanted to do because I wanted to be able to gauge whether I was capable of becoming a counsellor or a psychologist.”
There is a wide range of volunteering opportunities both on and off campus: from Greenpeace and the Special Olympics to Concordia’s own Alternative Spring Break, more than 50 organizations will be setting up information tables at the 2013 Volunteer Fair.
Hosted by Concordia’s LIVE (Leadership Initiative and Volunteer Engagement) Centre, the fair is now in its ninth year. LIVE Centre Coordinator Valérie Millette says the goal this year is to make connections between students, staff, faculty, members of the public, and as many types of organizations as possible. "I’ve really tried to make it the one place where you can figure out the great variety of things you can actually do as a volunteer," Millette says.
Volunteers are often needed to help out at community events, like this project to beautify a neighbourhood. | Photo courtesy the LIVE Centre
The overwhelming demand for exhibition space from interested organizations forced her to create a waiting list. “They know it's a great time to connect with the Concordia community,” she says, adding that the fair is also well attended by people looking for ways to both contribute and gain experience.
How to volunteer: sign up for an hour, sign up for a year
According to Millette, volunteering doesn’t necessarily mean making a long-term commitment, or devoting a lot of time to it. “For example, somebody could talk to Les Amis de la Montagne and find out they can help at a one-time event on Mount Royal. Or they might find out about a position where they can contribute on a weekly basis and gain a lot of experience.”
Melo now works part-time at the LIVE Centre. She says students who come to the centre for information often don’t realize that volunteering can also provide them with marketable experience.
“Take something like accountancy — usually you'll be working in a non-profit or a community organization, which gives you a chance to practice your skills. As a student, you might not have that same opportunity in a business setting right off the bat.”
While she’s currently taking a short break from volunteering to focus on her studies, Melo says it’s something she’ll never give up. “I’ll always want to be involved in some way, because it’s just fun. It's different than working. Working is a little bit more serious. Volunteering you can have more fun with it, you can experiment.”
Follow the action at the Volunteer Fair on Thursday, October 10, with this Twitter hashtag: #CUvolunteer