Volunteering: What’s in it for me?

While the board of directors of this year’s Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship have been hard at work for almost a year, the heavy lifting begins this week with the erection of the site.
When it comes to volunteering, people often ask, “What is in it for me?”
Students who volunteer often do it for their volunteer hours to graduate.
Some people volunteer to show off their skills as carpenters. Others, as the show gets underway Thursday, can tell their friends and family about their work in erecting the tent, and assembling the stage.
Former residents and friends of local residents often volunteer because it gives them an opportunity to socially reconnect and they plan their holidays accordingly.
Newcomers to Fort Frances volunteer to make friends and network with people in order to build a new group of friends and job prospects.
Some come to volunteer to hear the night-time entertainment as they work behind the bar or sell tickets or check admissions in the evening.
By volunteering to do those jobs they save on the price of admission. And often they become so busy that they only hear one or two songs in the evening. Yet, they have shared in the revelry of the night.
Those 20-30 volunteers who arrive at the Sorting Gap Marina, before the sun even starts to rise, make new friends with anglers every year and come back to renew friendships.
In the afternoon, a different set of volunteers make their way to the docks to be close to the competitors as anglers unload their fish and make their way to the stage. It’s an appealing opportunity to connect with the competitors.
Each and every volunteer finds their own reason to assist the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
But without all those volunteers who come to the tournament every year, the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship would not take place. Volunteers in every community make things happen.
As is the case every year, the tournament still needs more volunteers to come forward and assist the tournament to raise the site, look after spectators and fisher people and then clean up after Fort Frances’ biggest community celebration.
Find your reason to volunteer and help.