The City of Kelowna is marking national volunteer week with a proclamation.
Councillor Tracy Gray read the proclamation on Tuesday morning in front of Kelowna City Hall where a group of people gathered to promote the benefits of volunteerism.
“It’s a way to meet people,” longtime volunteer Beryl Itani said. “Volunteering keeps you healthy, keeps you vital, it’s good for your mental health, your physical health and I just love meeting people and doing this in our community.”
Itani has been recognized numerous times over the years for her involvement in the community as a volunteer. She started volunteering in Kelowna in 1975 with Snowfest and has been involved in countless causes since then. She also became the face of all of the volunteers helping the hundreds of evacuees during the 2003 wildfires in Kelowna.
Itani was on hand Tuesday morning for the launch of national volunteer week promoting the ‘150 for 150 volunteer challenge’.
“That is for encouraging people to do 150 things for the 15oth birthday of Canada,” Itani said. “People are encouraged to give 150 hours in 150 so that means if you even contributed two to three hours a week for an organization and do that for 52 weeks, there is your 150 hours right there, so it really doesn’t take a lot to get 150 hours in.”
Okanagan residents are encouraged to register for the challenge online where they can create a volunteer profile, share their volunteer stories and track their volunteer hours.
Click here to register and meet the challenge.
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