No fees for volunteer society

The South Okanagan Similkameen Volunteer Centre has decided to waive its membership fee indefinitely in order to help membership increase.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the region's volunteers, members and not-for-profits, prompting the board to temporarily suspend membership fees to ease the financial barrier to take advantage of SOSVC services.

“We anticipate this will encourage growth in membership and lead to an increase in volunteer opportunities for our nearly 1,000 volunteers, many of whom will be seeking new opportunities as restrictions are lifted,” said SOSVC president Mike Potgieter.

“Our goal is to be a one-stop-shop for volunteering in South Okanagan-Similkameen, with our primary focus on the well-being of our volunteers, while disseminating volunteer opportunities on behalf of members, allowing them to take care of their business."

They hope waiving the fees will encourage non-profit organizations, festivals and businesses to sign up for their services of connecting volunteers with events.

“Fest of Ale would not exist without volunteers, so when I heard the South Okanagan-Similkameen Volunteer Centre was making membership free, I was ecstatic because we’ve been shut down for two years and haven’t been able to generate any revenue,” said Sarah Taylor, event manager for the Okanagan Fest of Ale.

SOSVC has also helped many other local initiatives, like the Penticton Breakfast Club, which helps makes sure kids in local schools have full bellies every morning.

Find out more about SOSVC and how you can get involved or use their services here.