April 18th to the 24th is National Volunteer Week. During this week we give praise to the hundreds of volunteers who enable OIM to come alongside thousands of homeless and at-risk individuals each year. During this past year, with all the stress of living with COVID, OIM’s volunteers have been going out on the streets and supervising our Door Outreach programs.
Can you imagine what it was like to hear about the latest stay-at-home order to flatten the curve if you had no home to go to; or, if you did have a home, that home consisted of a single room in a building of 21 other single-room dwellings? Unfortunately, that is the reality of many of those we serve.
I am proud to say that last month alone OIM had over 130 volunteer visits consisting of more than 325 hours and that these same volunteers served just shy of 1,000 people, including some 260 meals to those in the downtown core of Ottawa.
On this day, as I write this, we are preparing to have our Easter Dinner. We expect to serve another 200 hot meals at this one event. To be able to do this we will have 25 volunteers serving in two shifts to put the meals together, hand them out, and spend a few minutes to walk alongside each person that comes to the door. Behind the scenes, another 50 or more people gave their time and money to donate and prepare the food and packaging so we could do this.
Words cannot express how much you mean to OIM and especially to those whom we have the privilege to serve, thanks to your generosity. We are humbled to be able to work with the hundreds of you who come alongside our street friends in their time of need.
‘Thank You’ from the bottom of our hearts.
~Brian, Volunteer Coordinator
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