Volunteering is a way of life for Bernadette McIntyre who is heavily involved in the Regina community.
McIntyre grew up in the community of Bethune, north of Regina, where her parents and everyone around her volunteered so that local activities could occur.
She has gained the title of “leader” in Regina and is aware that her role is important.
“It really means having vision, passion, respect for all, integrity and being prepared to work hard,” she said.
McIntyre believes that being a part of a community is crucial and plans to continue volunteering for as long as she can.
“Community is so important for our well-being, our mental health, we build stronger people and a stronger community by being involved in community activities and contributing wherever we can.”
Most recently, McIntyre organized volunteers for Regina’s first-ever Frost Festival. She called the festival a fantastic experience.
“The volunteers were amazing. Regina came through again. We had almost 150 people who came out and contributed their time throughout eleven days,” she said.
“It ended up being a wonderful community event and I can’t thank the volunteers enough.”
McIntyre has high hopes for the future.
“My hope for Regina and Saskatchewan is that we continue to be the awesome volunteers that we are; that we continue to work together to build our community throughout the province; and that we realize we are so diverse now – we need to be super inclusive.
“We have all kinds of wonderful events coming up. Grey Cup 2022 is only a few months away and we are going to need many volunteers for that.
“We are all wonderful people and we can work together in harmony and create very productive, inclusive and fun things for our community and just celebrate Regina and Saskatchewan and the wonderful country we live in.”
This week on Shaping Saskatchewan, McIntyre talks about her lifelong goal of volunteering and how important it is to come together as a community.