Volunteering and sustainability.
The two will be the subject of a study by the Saugeen Sustainability Volunteer and Resource Centre.
President Victoria Serda says it’s the first time anyone has taken a look at these two issues together in Saugeen Shores.
She says volunteering is a big part of ensuring sustainability, especially in small towns where the government doesn’t necessarily have a big budget to provide a lot of social services.
Serda says they need public input to get a good picture of what the community needs.
The first two of four public forums are being held Thursday, and Serda says they want to hear from anybody in the community, and especially non-profit organizations.
She says they need to know what kinds of supports organizations need for training volunteers or running meetings.
Serda says they also want to hear from volunteers, and what types of services they’d like to see set up in Saugeen Shores to connect them to opportunities.
She’s hoping they can get enough input to create a model that other small communities can use.
The Centre has received funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to conduct the study, and has hired on SMART Project Management.
The forums are today from 1 PM until 3 PM at the Port Elgin Library, and at the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre from 5 PM until 7 PM.
There will be two more forums on Monday January 24th.
