Gananoque deputy mayor disappointed in volunteer fair turnout

With time to decompress and review how the Volunteer Fair in Gananoque faired, the Town’s deputy mayor, Vicki Leakey, a lead organizer of this annual event, has expressed her disappointment.

While the Volunteer Fair, which took place April 23 at the Gananoque Curling Club, did garner a healthy number of volunteer sign-ups to local community groups, Leakey was looking for more output from the community.

“I was disappointed by the adult interest in volunteering among the community,” said Leakey, who has helped put together this event for the past two years.

"There were some great conversations but with (the focus) being on volunteering, I would have been happier with more visitors.”

The purpose of the event was to help connect a variety of community groups in the area, as well as to put the word out about the need for volunteerism.

Community groups like Senior Support Services, the Gananoque Fire Service, the Gananoque and Area Food Bank, to name a few, all participated in this year’s Volunteer Fair.

“There were 14 community groups, and the school (Gananoque Secondary School) was great (at reminding) students to come over after school to check it out,” said Leakey. “Community groups seemed happy with the number of sign-ups, but I was disappointed with general community interest, but happy with the amount of success for the groups to get additional volunteers.”

(Keith Dempsey is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Times. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.)

Keith Dempsey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brockville Recorder and Times