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Ability Resource Centre (ARC) held a celebration on Friday, honouring volunteers in the community.
Mary Jean Lawson was one of the volunteers in attendance who gave 1,077 hours of her time over the last year to work with different organizations across the city.
“I like to volunteer, working out in the community and give my time to other people,” Lawson said.
“I do volunteer over at the Humane Society, I volunteer at the Salvation Army and at the Regional Hospital.”
As part of National Volunteer Week, the ARC handed out more than 90 certificates that honoured people with developmental disabilities who contribute to their community. Organizers said it’s important to acknowledge these individuals who continue to selflessly give their time.
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“We’ve had over 24,000 volunteers in our community last year and so the thousands of hours that contributes to our community is very impactful,” said Diane Sim, Executive Director with Volunteer Lethbridge, “and when you think about the 93 volunteers even represented here today and the impact that they have made, you know it makes a huge difference.”
Sim added there are more than 700 non-profit organizations in Lethbridge alone that rely on people like Mary Jean each and every day.
“If you think about the variety of volunteer opportunities in our community, if we took all of that away, the community would be so different.”
Over the past year, the ARC has helped support nearly 100 individuals volunteer more than 11,000 hours across Lethbridge, and Mary Jean along with many others hope to continue giving back for years to come.
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