Quite often, we encounter a common scenario in which people express their interest in volunteering for the Legion but face challenges when trying to fit it into their already busy lives. We empathize with this situation. Here are some suggestions to consider:

1.      Many of our volunteer tasks are quite calming, such as measuring ingredients or preparing for our Wednesday dinner program. Once individuals become familiar with our system, they often use their volunteer time as a way to relax while performing repetitive tasks.

2.      Volunteering provides a wealth of mental and physical health benefits. It can help alleviate the effects of stress, anger, and anxiety. The social interaction that comes with assisting and collaborating with others can have a significant positive impact on your overall psychological well-being. Additionally, studies have revealed that volunteers tend to have a lower mortality rate compared to non-volunteers, contributing to better physical health.

3.      Some tasks require less than 30 minutes of your time. For example, one of our regular volunteers drops by a couple of times a month to collect cardboard and recycling, offering invaluable support to us with just a brief moment of their week.

4.      Volunteering promotes a sense of community. If you mainly work from home, have a shift job out of town, or generally find it challenging to connect with people in your community, becoming involved with the food bank can lead to new friendships and meaningful connections.

Click here to go to the online form. It will open in a new page.

Here are some of our volunteer opportunities

During the summer months from mid June to mid September;

The Invermere Farmers and Artists Market, located in the Lakeview Parking Lot.
Tasks,
Build up welcome tents, setup chairs and tables (45 minutes)
Market Greeters, welcome vendors and visitors to our Farmers and Artists Market (2 hours in shifts)
Break down and clean up of the tents, chairs and tables.(45 minutes)

The BBQ at the Legion 
Tasks are divided into shifts,
BBQer, Get hamburgers, bratwursts and hotdog warm and yummy on the bar b que (2 hours)
Cashier, Take the customers orders and accept payment. (2 hours)
Assembler, Take the hot products from the BBQer and assemble the hamburgers, hotdogs and bratwursts to order. (2 hours)
Build up, setup the tents, tables and bar b que, get the condiments ready for the day, (1 hour)
Break down and clean up, Take down the tents, put the tables and bar b ques in the storage areas and clean the used utensils and dishes. (1 hour).

We work with an order chit system to ensure that the requested BBQ snack is prepared as requested. 

The Legion breakfast buns.
Tasks,
Cooking, is limited to frying the eggs over easy and roasting the bacon in the oven. (2 hours)
Assembly of the breakfast bun with bacon, cheese and the fried egg.(2 hours)
Delivery to the market area so that vendors can enjoy a nice, warm breakfast before the market opens to the public (2 hours)

All year round;

Wednesday Dinners in the Legion.
Tasks,
Preparation, during the afternoon getting the potatoes peeled, veggies cleaned, setting the tables following the reservation lists. (2 hours)
Cooking, following step by step instructional lists getting the meal ready for our guests. (2 hours)
Service, plating the meals following an example and then delivering the warm meals to our guests in the Legion. (1.30 hours)
Clean up, bussing the tables and getting the dishes done and put away in the designated storage areas. (1.30 hours)

Seniors Lunch, every second Thursday of the month. 
Tasks,
Preparation and cooking, making soup and sandwiches or wraps or salades for the seniors in our community. (3 hours)
Service, usually done while the preps are still ongoing. Serving lunch to our senior guests. (1 hour)
Clean up, bussing the tables and getting the dishes done and put away in the designated storage areas. (1.30 hours)

Meat Draw and 50/50 every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening starting at 6:00pm (2 hours)
Tasks,
Sell tickets, for both the meat draw and the 50/50 draw following BC gaming instructions
Draw winners, every 15 minutes draw one ticket out of a container and announce the winner. At the end of the evening draw the 50/50 winner.
Volunteers receive instruction, must tally the cash and fill in a report.

Decorations in the Legion.
Tasks,
Decoration planning and decorating the branch for occasions throughout the year. (variable hours)

Catering for events. 
Tasks,
Preparation, cooking, service and clean up.(variable hours)

Maintenance.
Tasks,
Plumbing, carpentry, electrical, HVAC and many other tasks associated with building maintenance. (variable hours)

Specials;

Poppy, last weeks of October and first weeks of November leading up to Remembrance Day.
Tasks,
Canvassing, going to the different businesses in our town and seeking donations for the Poppy Campaign (4 hours over a few days)
Tag Days, setting up and table at locations in our town to support the Poppy Campaign,
explaining what the Poppy represents and what is done with the funds collected (2 hours)

Banner Program,
Tasks,
Cleaning, repairing and storing the Honour Our Veterans Banners after Remembrance Day. (2 hours)

Fall Fest, end September. A market and BBQ in Harvest Style. Same tasks as the Farmers market and BBQ at the Legion. (2 hours)

Bonspiel on the Lake, one weekend in January during the Fun for All curling on Lake Windermere at Kinsmen Beach.
Tasks are divided into shifts, 
BBQer, Get hamburgers and hotdog warm and yummy on the bar-b-que (2 hours)
Cashier, Take the customers orders and accept payment. (2 hours)
Assembler, Take the hot products from the BBQer and assemble the hamburgers, hotdogs and bratworsts to order. (2 hours)
Build up, setup the tents, tables and bar b que, get the condiments ready for the day, (1 hour)
Break down and clean up, take down the tents, put the tables and bar b ques in the storage areas and clean the used utensils and dishes. (1 hour).