St. Albert’s Community Information and Volunteer Centre (CIVC) gets hundreds of visits every year from people looking for volunteer opportunities in the area but none quite like this.
A seven-member delegation representing various non-profit volunteer agencies from Hokkaido, Japan spent the morning on site for one part of a weeklong cultural and educational exchange throughout the Edmonton area. They are in town to learn about our cultural and government operations with other relevant stops including the St. Albert Public Library, the University of Alberta Hospital and the Red Cross, as well as the legislature. They toured the CIVC specifically to learn more about its leadership and success as a volunteer centre operation.
As Pat Blakney, the director of voluntary sector services within the government of Alberta’s Ministry of Culture and Community Spirit explained, they chose stops based on relevance and excellence.
“The CIVC is one of the top volunteer centres in the province as far as we’re concerned,” she said.
The tour is scheduled to be the last one stemming from a 1992 memorandum of understanding for volunteer exchange between the province and the Prefecture of Hokkaido, allowing groups from both areas to travel back and forth for educational purposes. Its purpose is to improve mutual understanding and share knowledge related to leadership in the voluntary sector, international development, youth agencies, citizens with disabilities support, senior citizens’ facilities, libraries and health care facilities. CIVC executive director Glynis Thomas was one of the first Albertans to travel to Hokkaido back in 1994.
In a prepared statement, Minister Lindsay Blackett said how positive the memorandum has been.
“We have a lot of best practices we can share with these delegates, as well as much we can learn from them. This intercultural exchange is so important and will result in lasting benefits for the growth and sustainability of the non-profit and voluntary sector in both jurisdictions.”
The delegates received an overview of the CIVC’s programs and systems, especially in the areas of volunteer management and recognition, with introductions to the Volunteer Income Tax Program and youth mentorship through the Sidekicks program, while gaining an appreciation for the uniqueness of the Charles Gale Centre which houses the CIVC as well as St. Albert Parents’ Place and St. Albert Children’s Theatre.
Nobunao Kasai, the head of the delegation and director of the Hokkaido Community Activities Promotion Association, said through his interpreter that it was a very worthwhile and wonderful visit as the delegation learned some concepts that are more advanced here than what is practised in Japan.
