National Volunteer Week takes place from April 14-20, 2024
COLD LAKE - For Lori Flanders-Midford, volunteering has been a lifelong passion.
Flanders-Midford works as an educational assistant at Cold Lake High School. She has been volunteering with community organizations for roughly 35 years and has coached sports in schools for the past quarter of a century - this is in addition to coaching with local clubs.
“I’ve done a lot of coaching of volleyball, both in schools and club… basketball… I’m president of Cold Lake Minor Soccer,” she told Lakeland This Week, adding that she has worn various hats with the soccer organization, including being a coach, director, and manager throughout the years.
In addition to lending her time as a coach, she has also helped with school tournaments and events, health galas, and volunteered with different foundations that needed help.
She also sits on the board with the community garden in Cold Lake, located close to the Energy Centre. The group rents out plots to community members who then use them to grow their own vegetables.
Flanders-Midford’s journey into volunteering began when she was a student in junior high and high school. Growing up, she says, both her parents were involved in volunteer efforts in the community – and she has followed in those footsteps.
“My mom was very actively involved in volunteer organizations,” she explains, adding that her mother continues to volunteer. “My dad did volunteering as well and he was also on some different committees and stuff and helped where he could.”
Speaking of what she enjoys most about volunteering, Flanders-Midford says it is the relationships she has created with young people, while also helping them be successful later in life. Some kids don’t have positive role models in their lives, and making strong connections through school helps youth in the long run, she believes.
Volunteering, she continued, also provides opportunities for her to meet new people.
“For me, it makes life more enjoyable.&rdquo
Volunteering is an important part of any community, Flanders-Midford says, stating that different programs - including local fundraisers – simply would not exist without volunteers working behind the scenes, putting in the time and effort to make things happen.
This also includes athletic programs at local schools.
“If you don’t have coaches involved, these kids don’t have extracurricular programs in schools.
In these current times of economic hardship, when the cost of living is so high, and there is sometimes a disconnect among people and communities, it is especially important to volunteer, says Flanders-Midford.
Volunteering gives people a reason to get out of the house and get to know their communities.
“I think it’s a huge part of people’s mental health as well,” she adds.
