![Kings Volunteer Resource Centre treasurer, volunteer and founding member Bruce MacArthur speaks at the Nov. 2 launch for VolunteerNS, a website linking nonprofits with volunteers across the province. “For us, to try and help volunteers look for places to volunteer, and vice versa for groups, was challenging. We were looking for a better, and this is obviously [it],” he said.](https://saltwire.imgix.net/KA-02112018-volunteers1.jpg?cs=srgb&fit=crop&h=568&w=847&dpr=1&auto=format%2Ccompress%2Cenhance)
NEW MINAS – A new website means volunteers in Kings County and across the province can find local opportunities in their communities with nonprofits seeking support.
Members of the Kings Volunteer Resource Centre were on hand to announce the unveiling of VolunteerNS, a website that will act as a networking platform linking nonprofit organizations with volunteers looking to donate their time and effort.
KVRC treasurer, volunteer and founding member Bruce MacArthur described it as a free and searchable “one-stop-shop” for everything volunteer-related.
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He said the service will answer volunteer questions like, ‘where do I apply,’ ‘who do I speak with’ and ‘how do I know if I even qualify,’ and organization questions like, ‘where should we advertise for this,’ ‘will it cost anything,’ ‘what’s the most effective way to get responses.’
“For us, to try and help volunteers look for places to volunteer, and vice versa for groups, was challenging. We were looking for a better, and this is obviously [it],” he said.
The website is zero-cost and available to all nonprofit groups to post volunteer vacancies. Its search function means volunteers can seek opportunities and locations that best-fit their respective regions and areas of expertise.
KVRC volunteer and board member Sara Langford said the KVRC designed the website in consultation with Volunteer Canada and the province because it was so excited by the prospect it decided to “think big” to facilitate volunteering across the province.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to make volunteering more accessible to people. Oftentimes, when we talk to people about why they don’t volunteer, they say they simply didn’t realize there was a need,” she said.
The centre said – according to statistics provided by GPI Atlantic – that Nova Scotian volunteers contributed nearly $2 billion who of services to the province’s economy, and together volunteer for a total of 140 million hours per year.
A provincial report mentioned at the announcement also said volunteers from the province contribute on average 192 hours each per year – the highest such number in Canada.
MLA and Communities, Culture and Heritage minister Leo Glavine was present at the announcement, pointing out that he and nearly everyone in the room had spent some amount of their time volunteering.
“We know the importance of volunteers to our province – it is really a phenomenal part of who we are as Nova Scotians,” he said.
The new website can be found at: https://volunteerns.ca/
