International Volunteer Day 2018

The U.N. General Assembly mandates that Dec. 5 each year be acknowledged as International Volunteer Day (IVD). This is a chance for volunteers and the organizations for which they work to celebrate all they do to accomplish good in the world. It is a day to celebrate the shared missions of volunteers and organizations globally and to promote the work being done in communities worldwide. This day helps to advocate for volunteer recognition and encourages building volunteerism into programming for organizations around the world.

IVD 2018 has been given the theme “Volunteers Build Resilient Communities.” This means the day is focused on how volunteers already do build resilient communities as well as how we can utilize volunteer power to do even more. The volunteers being specifically recognized are those responding to, and helping their communities prepare for, natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks.

This year’s IVD also highlights women volunteers, who represent over 50 percent of volunteers worldwide. These local, and often marginalized, volunteers are crucial to strengthening resiliency in their communities.

Volunteers are critical to the work we do at Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area. Our ReStore volunteers sort, price and sell donations that allow people to buy discounted housewares and other items, perpetuating sustainability and affordability in our community. Construction volunteers work alongside our homeowners to build and repair homes that increase pride and economic value in the neighborhoods in which we work. We have women build teams who return to our sites each year to take part in this community development work, and we could not do it without them.
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On this IVD, Habitat La Crosse is thrilled to celebrate the volunteers who help us make our community more economically and environmentally resilient through their support of all of our programs, helping us build more homes, communities and hope.