Volunteer News - 2025 Winter Edition

Volunteer Appreciation 2025

Community Care Northumberland is excited to invite all volunteers to our annual volunteer appreciation event! This fun day is meant to thank our volunteers by getting everyone together for lunch, meet fellow volunteers, and visit with staff.

Volunteer Satisfaction Survey

Our 2025 Volunteer Satisfaction Survey is open and we are ready to hear from you! Your feedback is invaluable in helping us enhance the volunteer experience and strengthen the support services we provide to our community. You can easily access the survey online by clicking Here!

If you prefer a more personal touch, we invite you to visit your local office, where you can fill out a paper copy of the survey.

Your voice matters, and together we can create a culture of engagement and continuous improvement at CCN. Thank you for your commitment to Community Care Northumberland!

Annual Declaration

It's that time again where all Community Care Northumberland volunteers complete their annual declarations. This process is done annually to ensure our volunteers have not been convicted in a criminal offence since they completed their vulnerable sector check.

You can find a copy of the fillable document Here!

Please note that the fillable documents will not work on an Ipad

If you'd prefer a paper copy, please swing by your local office to fill it out.

These are due by February 28th, 2025

Copy of Insurance

If you are a volunteer who drives for: Meals on Wheels and Transportation

Please send a copy of your insurance to Colleen at volunteer@commcare.ca or pop by your local office to provide a copy for our records!

NEW Community Care Northumberland Facebook Page!

Have you checked out our brand-new Facebook page yet? Community Care Northumberland has a fresh new space where we can continue to connect with all of you and share the exciting things happening in our community!

From program updates and event news to inspiring stories and helpful resources, our new page is your go-to place to stay in the loop with everything we’re doing. We can’t wait to keep growing our vibrant and caring community together!

Here’s how YOU can help us spread the word:

Follow the new page HERE.
Like, comment, and share posts to help spread the word and grow our community.
Invite friends and family to follow us as well!

We’re so grateful for your support and excited to continue this journey with you!

Wellness Update

Once again, the eighth annual Community Care Northumberland Adopt a Grandparent program was a great success. We matched 144 grandparents with donors: our largest number yet. We could not have done it without all the support of staff, volunteers and donors. Many hours are involved with collecting names, matching donors with grandparents, shopping, organizing gifts and of course delivering. Although the program launches on November 1st every year, the planning for it happens all year long.

A huge thank you must go out to everyone involved. Many Christmases were made just a little brighter and happier based on the many phone calls of thanks we have received. Thank you from Community Care Northumberland and the Wellness Team.

The Wellness Team is already thinking about Adopt a Grandparent 2025 We hope that we might be able to get more volunteers involved, especially in the Trent Hills area, to help deliver gifts the week before Christmas. In 2024, we delivered over 50 gifts throughout Trent Hills. Delivering of the gifts would be much more efficient if we could get more volunteers involved.

If you would like more information about this, please call a member of the wellness team or email at wellness@commcare.ca.

Thank you in advance for your interest!

The Wellness Team!

Hospice Update

Body Mechanics training for Hospice Volunteers

February 21, 2025

Time: 1-3pm (Training for 1 hour followed by social)

Where: Ed’s House Northumberland Hospice Care Centre/Education Room

Education Topic: Refresher course in Body Mechanics – Presented by Ashley Konecny Registered Kinesiologist.

To register please email n.bruce@commcare.ca or call Nancy Bruce at 365-400-7580 x165 by Thursday February13th.

Nutrition Update

Promoting our Hot and Frozen Meals On Wheels

Over the next few months, the Nutrition Team will be promoting our Meals On Wheels Programs. We will be creating new posters to post in the Community as well as new social media posts. If you have any suggestions on posting posters and/or any suggestions on having education sessions to promote our Meals On Wheels programs – please let us know.

March For Meals

The March For Meals Event is just around the corner. Each year we reach out to our Local Mayor’s and Councillor’s to see if they would like to participate in this event. This event gives them the opportunity to deliver meals with our volunteers to clients homes. Once details are finalized we will reach out to you.

Christmas Deliveries

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for helping out with all of the extra items what were delivered with our meals – Santa Sac’s, Placemats, Invoices. The Nutrition Team really appreciated the extra help.

Valentine’s Day Fundraiser – February 14, 2025 for the Meals On Wheels Program

Transportation Update

Unfortunately in November and December, our team was unable to cover 104 drives for clients due to a lack of volunteers. This number could have been higher, however we were able to use volunteers from other areas. We'd like to thank our current volunteer drivers for their efforts in helping clients to and from essential medical appointments, shopping, etc.

If you or someone you know is interested in driving for CCN, please contact Colleen at volunteer@commcare.ca.

Volunteer Transportation Spotlight

Wayne, a dedicated Volunteer Transportation Driver with Community Care Northumberland, has been making a difference in our community for years!

When asked about his most memorable and rewarding moment, Wayne shared, “I am involved in various volunteer services within our community, each of which stands out as being helpful and appreciated by the people I help. That’s all I need to be happy!”

Wayne also offers this advice to others considering volunteering: “They will definitely not regret deciding to volunteer. Each experience is an extremely rewarding one.”

Thank you, Wayne, for your amazing support!

VPS WrapAround for Older Adults Update

This fast growing program is looking for individuals who would like a high-level volunteer role. This volunteer position is considered specialized due to the training and is a rewarding experience for volunteers.

Volunteers will:

Be trained on WrapAround program
Be matched with a current VPS volunteer to work with supporting an older adult in your community
Have hours that are flexible, as depicted by the client and their goals

Contact Kelly at k.peterson@commcare.ca or volunteer@commcare.ca for more information.

Home Help & Home Maintenance

Our waitlist for Home Help and Home Maintenance has been steadily increasing, as is our need for more workers. Our Home Help program assists clients to stay in their homes by providing light housekeeping, laundry, and meal preparation for $20 per hour.

Home Maintenance helps clients feel safe in their homes by performing duties like snow removal, lawn care, and odd jobs outside of the home. Compensation for the job is agreed upon between client and worker prior to the work being completed.

Both positions are paid by the client and workers are able to make their own hours, making this position flexible to every schedule!

If you or someone you know would like to help with this program please contact Colleen at volunteer@commcare.ca.

Dates to Remember!

February 10 - Handbags for Hospice Tickets go on sale

February 14 - Valentine's Day Lunch Fundraiser for Meals on Wheels

February 17 - Family Day (All CCN offices will be closed)

February 21 - Body Mechanics for hospice volunteers

February 28 - Annual declarations & volunteer feedback surveys are due

March 26th- Advance Care Planning for Hospice Volunteers

March 31st- Easter Cookies Fundraiser for Meals on Wheels begins

April 10 - Handbags for Hospice

April 18 and 20 - Easter (All CCN offices will be closed)

April 30 - Annual Volunteer Appreciation Event

A reminder that Ed's House is open 24/7 during the holidays for family, friends, and visitors of residents.

Volunteer Positions

As the demand for our services continues to grow, CCN is continually looking to recruit volunteers for all programs. The majority of new volunteers say they heard of us through word of mouth.

You are our best ambassadors so if you know of family or friends who may enjoy volunteering with us please refer them to Colleen Venema- Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator at volunteer@commcare.ca or head to www.commcare.ca to learn more.

Volunteer Opportunities

Connect with us

commcare.ca

edshouse.northumberlandhospice.ca