The Power of Many

Our Volunteer Initiative

The Power of Many is a joint initiative of AIDS Saskatoon and Sexual Health Centre Saskatoon, which provides volunteers with the training to volunteer at either agency. Power of Many volunteers find a diverse range of opportunities to match their interests and skills. By collaborating in the recruitment, orientation, scheduling and appreciation of volunteers, both agencies are able to make the best use of limited resources.

From April 2008 to March 2009, volunteers worked over 6000 hours, tirelessly contributing nearly every day -- the equivalent of 3.5 full-time staff!

What have volunteers done?

Worked bingos, painted offices, weeded the garden, raised awareness at Tag Day and the AIDS Walk, condom blitzed, designed posters, collated evaluation data, made coffee, sorted donations, celebrated at Pride and National Aboriginal Day, starred in HepC videos, sorted resource materials, cooked and served Brunch and Soul Food, filled in reception, wrote grants, raised money, assembled furniture, strategized, planned, and recruited their friends to volunteer.

In spring, AIDS Saskatoon conducted a survey of volunteers; 26 people responded:

• When asked about their overall satisfaction with volunteering, 92% of volunteers replied that they were 'mostly' or 'very' satisfied.
• Asked if they feel like the work they do is valued, 100% of vounteers said 'definitely' or 'mostly' yes!
• 61% of POM volunteers also volunteer for other organizations, groups or clubs.
• Volunteers are learning lots: asked to self-rate their knowledge on a variety of topics both before volunteering and currently, volunteers retroactively rated their “before” knowledge of HIV/AIDS as 5.7 on a scale of 1-10; their “after” knowledge on HIV/AIDS was rated 8.1.

Special Thank Yous to Christine Chang, Erna Doell, Cathy Johnson and Patti Trotchie: four super AIDS Saskatoon volunteers who received awards for service during the 2008-9 year.

Documents Attached

• Volunteer Application Form (PDF)