There are volunteering declarations, codes, and indeed charters in many nations and international organizations spread throughout the world, many of which Volunteer MBC’s Charter of Volunteerism has drawn on for guidance, but none that we are aware of go so far as to explore and declare what volunteers and community service organizations ENJOY.

Including ENJOY reflects what has been a large part of Volunteer MBC’s core vision and message over the last 10 years: that volunteers and whom they volunteer with celebrate how much all involved care about and contribute to communities in Peel region. Not just annually, as in the V-Oscars, but each and every volunteering hour, each and every successful completion of a community service project. And well beyond those gifts of time and effort, remembering and celebrating the smiles that we bring to those in need in Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon.

It’s wise to pause to read the 8 points in the Charter itself, then smile ourselves, then reflect: (volunteer) ‘Identity and belonging in the community’; ‘Transforming a vision for helping others’; wealth... out of friendships gained; the benefit of personal development. Plus, how community service organizations achieve beneficial outcomes and meet their greater goals, while enhancing the personal experiences and lives of their volunteers, and the enjoyment that comes from both doing this and from the result.

Canadians who volunteer tend not to seek recognition, yet something certainly would be missing, were recognition not part of the ‘volunteering equation’.

There are many ways to recognize (and celebrate), but formal recognition, including recognition of participation, as accorded to V-Oscars’ ‘Galaxy Stars’, constitutes a record of accomplishment, and a chance to declare where we are in the volunteering sector in Peel region, and to explore where we should be headed. And that is why the final point under what Community Service Organizations ENJOY includes ‘Recognizing achievements... with focus on volunteers of all backgrounds and abilities’.