There have been tens of thousands of volunteers in St. Albert over the last 10 years but as far as the Community Information and Volunteer Centre (CIVC) is concerned, one person stands as a beacon above them all. The agency just named Margaret Plain as the Volunteer Citizen of the Decade.
The announcement came during a ceremony this afternoon at Volunteer Rest behind St. Albert Place in which Mayor Nolan Crouse proclaimed National Volunteer Week. Plain, a former member of city council herself, is heavily involved in numerous community activities. She is the current chair of Rendezvous 2011, the committee overseeing the celebration for the city’s 150th anniversary and has a history of volunteerism that extends farther back than even the CIVC itself.
Her resume reads like a fantasy novel of a person who can stop time in order to be everywhere at once. Since the late 1970s she has been intrinsically involved, whether as a member or as a leader, with social agencies, cultural groups, special community events and organizing boards. As a front line volunteer she is as dependable and warm as the fleece jackets and blankets she often makes as charity auction items. She has canvassed for charities as much as she participates in behind-the-scenes work like when she helped found St. Albert Stop Abuse in Families. She was president of the St. Albert Historical Society during the years it created Black Robe’s Vision, the exhaustively researched and extensive two-volume historical account of the city. She sits on the board for the Provincial Health Ethics Network. She was on the Capital Health Board. Before that, it was the Capital Care Group Board that she was on at the same time as her participation on the Sturgeon General Hospital Board. She even volunteered with the CIVC itself. In her spare time, she volunteers at the St. Albert Botanic Park, helping with annual rose plantings and seasonal sales.
“The community provides places for people to explore their talents,” she began, talking about how each volunteer at the park has a special talent that can be put to use. “We’re finding at the botanic park that many of our volunteers are seniors. If they used to garden, they miss it. So they come down to the park. They can make use of their talents and skills and life experiences. They’re all using their life experiences in a volunteer capacity and they’re benefiting from the socialization aspect. It’s a healthy place to be.”
This health benefit for not just the volunteer community members but the city also, only works under one condition: it can’t be forced. When asked what makes a good volunteer, she responded, “You have to want to.”
Even though she’s obviously a strong advocate for community involvement, she says you can’t force it but there are ways of helping people find an opportunity that they will love.
“Maybe they need to be encouraged and have an invitation extended, and have support when they accept the invitation so that they’re not left on their own to figure it out.”
The reward must always be the enrichment from the work itself though. Thankful for the rare title bestowed upon her, she demurred at the notion that any praise was required.
“I’m very honoured but that’s not why I did it. To me, you don’t volunteer because you expect to get a reward: you volunteer because you want to and you choose to. If you end up getting a reward, that’s just the icing on the cake.”
Plain now joins the ranks of some of St. Albert’s greatest humanitarians so given the same honour every decade on the decade since 1980. Previous winners of the Volunteer Citizen of the Decade include joint winners Ethel Cuts and Edmond Savoie (1970 to 1980), Richard Fowler (1980 to 1990), and former Lt.-Gov. Lois Hole (1990 to 2000).
