A Message from Dan Rogers: Thank You Volunteers!
Dan Rogers, Board Chair April 18th marked the close of National Volunteer Week in Canada and this gives me an opportunity to thank all the volunteers who do so much for CEF all year long. I am slightly reluctant to use this “week” to thank our volunteers. It’s a bit like only thanking your Mother on Mother’s day. I like to celebrate those, like mothers, that make a difference in our lives all year long. And so it is with CEF volunteers. I appreciate and celebrate those that make what we do at CEF possible all year long. And hope they know how valued they are not just this week but throughout the year.
As many of you know, CEF started with a vision for volunteers from the photographic community to generate funds to assist kids in developing countries to go to school. That mission is still at the heart of what we do every day although it has evolved somewhat. We now support clean water and health care projects as well as education. As well, we now have some skilled folks as contractors in order to get some core functions done but so much of what we do very much relies on volunteers. The vast majority of our excellent communications is done by volunteers. Much of the planning and production of our fantastic shoots is done by volunteers. Some of our admin is done by volunteers as well as our event implementation. And of course, our dedicated Board of Directors and Advisory Board are volunteers, many of whom dedicate hundreds of hours per year to help make CEF function. And our volunteers are certainly not found just in Canada. We have folks in the UK, and the US, and New Zealand, and of course Hawaii (I know it’s the US but I wanted to give a special shout out).
As we enter our 10th year, volunteers will remain at the core of who we are at CEF. You are an inspiration not only to CEF but also to others who see you helping out and then want to help too. So thank you, all of you. I love what you do and am glad you love to help us out.