Strengthening the volunteer foundation

Volunteers are the firm foundation on which all Threads of Life programs and services are built. One of the many ways our partners support Threads of Life is by allowing and encouraging their own employees to volunteer.

Thanks to our partners, corporate volunteers serve on Steps for Life organizing committees, and plan other fundraisers as well. While these individuals devote many hours of their personal time to their Threads of Life volunteer roles, many of our partner organizations – companies, safety associations, compensation boards and government ministries – allow employees to use work time for meetings and other tasks.

A report by Volunteer Canada notes that employer-supported volunteer programs are a win-win-win: “They help businesses strengthen community relationships and improve employee engagement. They also give non-profits access to new resources and skills while allowing employees to refine and enhance their skills and expand their networks.”

At Threads of Life, we can certainly attest to the resources and skills our volunteers bring. Our board of directors is made up of volunteers who provide crucial expertise on everything from finance to legal matters to human resources. Several board members are supported by their employers to bring their skills to Threads of Life.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We exceeded our fundraising goal!!! <a href="https://t.co/Y9Dw66wILi">pic.twitter.com/Y9Dw66wILi</a></p>— Steps for Life - St. John's Walk (@Steps4LifeNL) <a href="https://twitter.com/Steps4LifeNL/status/993147885909921793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2018</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jackie Manuel, Threads of Life director and CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Safety Association proudly displays the total raised at the St. John’s Steps for Life walk in May 2018 – an event she has chaired since 2010.

One of those board members is Jackie Manuel, CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Safety Association. Jackie has been a board member since 2010 and in turn encourages her own employees to volunteer for Threads of Life.

“At the NLCSA, we have always encouraged our staff to volunteer,” Jackie says. “Threads of Life is aligned with the NLCSA’s mission and values and so, really resonated with our team. We dedicate our efforts every day to the prevention of workplace incidents and illness in the construction industry, and so the opportunity to volunteer and assist another organization that supports that mission just makes sense.”

Jackie adds that her staff members volunteer as part of the speakers bureau and on the Steps for Life community organizing committee as well as through fundraising events. In addition, the NLCSA has had a team of volunteers walk in Steps for Life since its inception in the St. John’s metropolitan area in 2010, and the team has raised more than $20,000 over that time. Across the country, other provincial construction safety associations – like the ACSA in Alberta and the IHSA in Ontario – have also been key supporters of Threads of Life’s volunteer base, providing chairpeople and volunteers for walk committees, and organizing events like the annual Day of Mourning ball hockey tournament in Edmonton.

Threads of Life is a volunteer-powered organization, and we are so grateful to all our partners for making our work possible!