Volunteers fully deserve their recognition

FRIDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — It’s been said many, many times but it can never be said enough — volunteers make a community.

Thursday night, eight people were honoured for their service to Kamloops. Their names are Janice Yeung, Helen Saemerow, Andy Philpot, Claire Moreau, Ray Jolicoeur, Ed Erickson, Charlie Bruce and Jeff Arnold.

Each, in his or her own way, has selflessly put in countless numbers of hours to help others, and to make Kamloops a great place in which to live and work.

Such commitment comes with challenges. As Jolicoeur pointed out, volunteerism doesn’t always involve the popular feel-good stuff. One of the many committees he served on dealt with prostitution.

A dozen years ago, street prostitution was a major problem in Kamloops. Trying to do something about it meant getting to know them and offering a helping hand rather than simply the long arm of the law.

That wasn’t an approach everybody approved of, but the work of that committee led to understanding and action, and today prostitution still exists but it’s managed on a community level.

In many other areas, similar positive changes have resulted from their work. Those who received recognition last night have helped at food banks, seniors services, health and wellness — the gamut. And they keep on doing it, as do so many others.

It’s an appropriate timing for such a ceremony, of course, since this is National Volunteer Week. Organizations all over the city have been holding special events to recognize their volunteers. For some of those volunteers, it’s an emotional time, and that clearly showed last night. They don’t do what they do for the recognition but when they get it, it really means something to them.

Shining the spotlight on them every now and again is the least a grateful community can give in return.