FEATURE ARTICLE - MYVOP - New Youth Volunteer Opportunities Website

MYVOP, Manitoba Youth Volunteer Opportunities is a NEW project initiated by Volunteer Manitoba. This new project is working to attract our much-needed next generation of volunteers.

Through our ambitious outreach program, youth across Manitoba are checking out this new website and looking for volunteer opportunities. If you are seeking volunteers between the age of 12 - 30, this website is your best tool.

The user-friendly website makes it easy to post your position on the site. Within a day or two, your posting will be added. People interested in your volunteer opportunity will be able to use the contact information you've supplied to call or email you and check out your website. They can even fill out your application form ON-LINE so there are no delays.

To post your opportunity, agencies need to create an account, then fill out the on-line form that describes the volunteer opportunity. You can even submit your community events which will be displayed on the home webpage so that youth see the types of events they might become involved in right away.

Just visit www.myvop.ca and get started.

Through appropriate volunteer activities, youth will be able to gain things such as employability skills, explore career possibilities, zip up their resumes a notch, feel more confidence in themselves, connect with their communities and therefore become more committed citizens.

What services does MYVOP have to offer?

Volunteer Agencies:
Volunteer opportunities can be easily submitted by organizations to be posted on the website free of charge. The online submission process is user-friendly and ensures that youth see opportunities that they can get involved in right away.

Youth:
The goal of MYVOP is to reach, motivate, educate and assist young people in Manitoba (target group up to age 30) to become volunteers. to answer all the questions that a young person might have about volunteering, plus immediately connect them with volunteer opportunities, anywhere in Manitoba.

Schools and Community Groups:
Besides the website, MYVOP has an outreach program, with 2 workers who visit schools and community organizations, throughout Manitoba, to connect with diverse youth and agency groups and to present their motivational presentation, “Why Should I Volunteer?”.

Many youth are trying to find the right career. Many are trying to gain job skills. They are young. How to achieve these goals? VOLUNTEERING may be their answer.

Volunteering can be the way that youth break through the “no experience, no job” barrier. The skills and contacts that youth develop through volunteering can get their foot in the career door. Youth at risk may finally connect by volunteering in a community agency, where they know they are making a difference in others’ lives.

We are inviting you, plus youth, teachers, parents, volunteer agencies to visit the new MYVOP website: www.myvop.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Lee Anderson, Project Coordinator,
Manitoba Youth Volunteer Opportunities (MYVOP).
Volunteer Manitoba, Ste. 410-5 Donald St. south, Winnipeg, Mb. R3L 2T4
Email: myvop@mts.net
Phone: 477-5180. Ext. 229.