“Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience and just plain love for one another.”
– author Erma Bombeck.
Her nation was the U.S., but the late Bombeck’s words still apply to volunteers in every country in the world, and in every little community where people care for each other.
Say what you want about St. Albert — good or bad — one thing that can’t be questioned is the commitment of certain people to try to make the city a better place for everyone.
Those people are the hundreds of volunteers who step up every time to ensure the success of various functions and activities, from parents in schools to coaches of sporting teams and to those who selflessly give up their valuable family time this month every year to help those less fortunate. St. Albert has an over-abundance of volunteers.
So it is rather surprising that in the first 11 years that the Stars of Alberta outstanding volunteer awards have been presented, no one from St. Albert had ever won one. Thankfully that omission has been corrected.
Gareth Jones, a fixture around the city for years, was among the six volunteers honoured on Monday for their “efforts that have contributed to the well-being of their community and fellow community members.”
The awards are given to individuals who exemplify the spirit of community service, demonstrate exemplary initiative, leadership and creativity in his/her service to others, serve as a role model, inspire others to get involved in volunteerism and improve the overall quality of life in their community.
Anyone who knows Gareth Jones would readily agree that he meets all those criteria. He has worked tirelessly to help others and there are no sectors of the community he hasn’t served, from youth to seniors, from sports to arts, from human services to fundraising.
He’s been on the boards of numerous organizations and was a founding member of many local groups, including the St. Albert Victim Services, the St. Albert Rugby Football Club and the St. Albert Bingo Association.
It is people like Jones who come to mind, and are probably behind this quote:
“Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer” – author unknown.
Look around St. Albert this month and those volunteers will be easily seen: tending the Salvation Army kettles, helping with the Kinettes’ hamper drive, driving into Edmonton to serve meals at Christmas dinners for the homeless or helping with Santas Anonymous.
But more of them aren’t seen. They’re working year-round behind the scenes, like the group of St. Albertans sitting on the board of Catholic Social Services or being the driving force behind the Sign of Hope fundraising campaign.
Our hats are off to all the volunteers, during this Christmas season and the whole year round.
Probably no one put it better than Martin Luther King Jr., who said:
“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
