The Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games is sending out a call for more volunteers.
To stage the July 24-30 Games efficiently for the 1,800 participating athletes as well as showcase the Energy City as the best possible host, about 1,000 volunteers are needed to help out. However, only about 600 people have signed up at this point.
“One of the areas where we’ll need a lot of volunteers is at (Estevan Comprehensive School) because there we’re going to have athlete services and also food services,” said Sheila Guenther, chair of the Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games volunteer committee. “We’re going to be preparing and serving meals to these 1,800 athletes, so we’ll need lots of help for that and also that’s where they’ll be staying so we need help with access control at the athletes village. Now people signing up for either of these, because you would be in direct contact with the athletes, will have to go and have a criminal record check done.”
Guenther said sports that are new to Estevan such as canoe/kayak and triathlon are also in need of volunteers due to not having established ties within the community. She said if people are interested in one of these areas they can sign up to volunteer there by indicating their interest and availability through saskgames.ca.
“We would ask each volunteer that is signing up to do at least two shifts, so it would be (any two of) a morning, afternoon or evening,” she said. Each shift is “about four to five hours, so we’re asking them to do four to five hours twice or more if they’re available.”
The ability to volunteer is not restricted to adults as kids between the ages of eight and 13 can sign up if their parent emails Guenther at [email protected] to say that their son or daughter will work alongside them, while youth between the ages of 14 to 17 can volunteer to work on their own if they first submit a parental consent form.
“The sooner (people) sign up the easier it will be for us to schedule those volunteers into their areas of interest,” said Guenther, noting volunteers will be required to attend one of four upcoming orientation meetings. “If they wait till later we may not be able to put them where they’re interested in volunteering, so the sooner they do it the easier it will be. Also, if you need a criminal record check done it takes a bit of time, so we encourage people to sign up right away.”
