You may not know it but whenever there is an emergency or disaster
many times response services must rely on volunteers to effectively reach out
to all those affected. But getting that kind of assistance is never easy, and
sustaining it is another story. And that is why a special day has been set aside
to give thanks to all those persons who selflessly give of their time without
expecting anything in return. December fifth is designated as International
Volunteer Day and today it was commemorated in Belize with fair at the Constitution
Park. The event was hosted by the NGO community which hoped to educate the public
on the work that they do, and snag a few new volunteers.
Paulette Wade,
“In the event that there is a disaster people would come out. They
would come out and they would volunteer but so as time goes by they tend to
dwindle along, drop off and then it goes back down to zero. Somehow we are not
able to keep them there. A lot of times they say they have different priorities
competing; they have their jobs, they have their families, and so they can’t
come out as they would have a mind. I don’t know if maybe we could try
to target other people that are not fully employed that could offer more time
to volunteer work. It is very essential because if you know recently we had
all this lot of flooding and you see how much people were affected. Now that
means that would need almost that same amount of people to render assistance
and so it is very needed in case of fire, whatever disaster, or even sometimes
you know you would see Red Cross nurses walking around with parades. When the
children go out for 21st parade they are always there because sometimes along
the way the children would faint or have heat, some form of heat stroke or whatever
and they are there to render assistance immediately.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
So volunteers, because of the work they do and they do not expect to get paid
for the job that is done, they do deserve this recognition?
Paulette Wade,
“Yes they do. They do and for all the people who have volunteered
or who are listening or who see this program, we would like to say thank you
for the services that you have provided to the Belizean public over the years.”
Two organizations that are in need of volunteers are the Belize Red
Cross and the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired. If you are interested
in helping you can contact their offices at the respective telephone numbers
223-4276 and 203–4607, respectively. Paulette Wade can be reached at NCFC
at 223–0059.
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