I can only repeat what I have said in the past... NCF couldn't operate without the contributions of our dedicated volunteers! Many volunteers work behind the scenes, and their efforts are enjoyed by the members, although they rarely know of the work they do. The Volunteer for the year 2000 is a good example. James Schofield does a lot of work on the NCF website, and also takes responsibility for getting the Volunteers of the Month information online. This often means working late at night so the VOM's can be surprised when they log in the next morning. :)
Probably the most visible volunteers to the general membership are the volunteers in the office. This past year, 69 different volunteers did the work of the NCF office, and this included numerous people on placements for job experience and training. I am proud to say that we lost many of our volunteers to paying jobs... the downside of that is the ongoing shortage of volunteers in the NCF office.
A sad note was the death of a very special volunteer this past spring. Ray Girard was on a training placement with us, and was enjoying his experience. Many, many members were helped by Ray. He is sorely missed by his family.
The office volunteers processed 1,567 new account registrations and 5,382 account renewals in the year 2000. The office volunteers process all donations, and we deposited almost $300,000 during the year.
Volunteering on NCF covers many areas! Volunteers working outside of the NCF Office provided training for new members at the St. Laurent Branch of the Ottawa Public Library, prepared web pages for Information Providers and "CapitalFind", and answered questions in the online Help Desk (ncf.admin), among other things. That newsgroup is a valuable resource for both old and new members to NCF, and serves as a central sharing point for information about our system.
I'd like to thank all the volunteers, especially the long-time office volunteers, for their dedication.
Sheila Alder
Office Manager
National Capital FreeNet
Feb/01