Agency Staff Sends Digital Nearing Thank You Message To Volunteers
Volunteer Appreciation week was April 19-26 this year. In order to show their appreciation for the incredible work of the mentors and volunteers who help to support the children and youth of Windsor Essex the staff from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor Essex (BBBSWE) collaborated on a Digital Nearing thank you message.
The Agency, one of the largest in Canada, is supported by over 500 active mentors and volunteers who donate their time, talent and energy to help ignite potential in children and youth.
BBBSWE serves over 800 children and youth in our community through 7 different mentorship programs. Those programs cannot proceed without the direct or indirect support of our volunteers. BBBSWE Executive Director Becky Parent talked about the collective choice to “lean in” to the Agency’s commitment to serve and “buy in” from mentors and community partners:
“March 13th was a decisive moment for Big Brothers Big Sisters Windsor Essex and we brought our l
eadership team together to assess the viability of our programs during what we knew would be an extremely challenging time. What came out of those very difficult conversations was one non-negotiable: Our children and young people needed us more than ever to support their emotional and mental well-being therefore withdrawing programs would not be an option.
And the response to these decisions was BIG. Staff leaned in and mentors did the same, innovatively rising to every challenge. Community partners have followed and we are extremely grateful to everyone for helping to make this work. This is critical work that continues at Big Brothers Big Sisters Windsor Essex thanks to you. BIG thanks.”
The staff was inspired to create a very special thank you message. Chelsie Lefaive, BBBSWE School Based Mentoring Coordinator was the creative force behind the photo message concept. She talked about her inspiration:
“I felt that expressing our gratitude to our volunteers with something a little more meaningful was necessary this year due to the current pandemic we are facing. Our volunteers have always been huge stakeholders in our agency, but during this time of social distancing, volunteers “leaning in” to mentoring is so critical to our young people. The photo was something that required a little more effort from staff, but is so miniscule when you look at how our volunteers have been supporting our children and youth in creative ways during this difficult time.”
Building off our Agency’s Digital Nearing Strategy (click for link) Chelsie’s vision was to create a thank you message where each member of the staff, take a photo of themselves holding a part of the message. The photos, when laid out together create a message that reinforces the Agency’s commitment to remaining safe, staying healthy and being grateful.
BBBSWE once again thanks all of the volunteers for their on-going commitment to the children and youth of our community.Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor Essex Taking Proactive Steps to Mitigate COVID-19 Impact