Getting involved in the community is important and it is valued in this society. A common way of doing that is volunteering. It’s also required for teens to graduate in BC to have at least 30 volunteer hours, but it can be hard to find volunteer opportunities in areas of interest.
Fortunately, both Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam have organized websites to browse through all the current volunteer opportunities. To be able to volunteer in the community, it is required to fill out an application form, which can be found on the sites coquitlam.ca and portcoquitlam.ca. After entering either website, find where it says, “Current Volunteer Opportunities,” click on one of the organizations it lists, and then click on “Join Now.” This will go right to the place where you can fill out the form and create an online volunteer profile. After filling out the form, you must call, email, or go to the community centre (Whichever organization you chose that’s closest to you) to sign up for a group interview. After that interview, the staff there will sign you up for an orientation.
The Terry Fox Library is also a good and easy place to volunteer at. It is not required to fill in much information, but it is necessary to have two references who aren’t family members. One of the opportunities there is to be a Reading Buddy. The program allows teens to read to young kids. There is another program for older teens in the library to stack books and do photocopies. This program might help solidify a job there in the future.
The Career Resource Facilitator from Riverside’s Career Centre, Rochelle David, says, “Employers want to see what type of volunteering they’ve (students) done and how constructive they are with their time because they can acquire a lot of skills.” In room 213, all the current volunteer and job opportunities that David has are posted on the white board. It is open from Monday to Thursday from nine until two o’clock, but it’s closed on Fridays. Most of the current opportunities are on the Career Centre’s website which can be found by going to the school website, clicking on the “Programs & Services” tab, going to “Career Centre,” and then clicking on the “Volunteer” tab.
The other cities around Poco and Coquitlam, such as Burnaby, Port Moody, Maple Ridge, and Vancouver also have their own websites and application process to volunteer.
There are some great opportunities and volunteer programs to be part of whether it’s just for fun, school, or experience. These resources are available to find them.
