I tried to imagine North Bay without volunteers and volunteer organizations…Imagine no Rotary roses, no Rotary Rotundo, no Kiwanis Band shell, no North Bay Regional Hospital Centre, no One Kid’s Place, no Community Waterfront Park, no Capitol Centre, no Heritage Gardeners Waterfront beds, no Kate Pace Way, no Kinsmen bridge, no Eco-path, no Heritage Railway, no carousels, no monthly spaghetti dinners at Davedi Club, no Sweetman’s Gardens, no Summer in the Park, no stewardship of Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing, no tree planting by scouts, guides, no Horticultural Society, no Trees for Nipissing, no Laurentian Ski Hill no Nordic ski Trails, no YMCA Strong Kids campaign, and programming, no plantings in the CWP parking lots and around the city, no P4L, no Discovery Routes, no Chamber of Commerce, no Laurentian Ski Hill, no Gathering Place, no Pac Sac Smiles, no Santa Fund and so much more! All of those projects are driven and supported by thousands of volunteers.
There are countless initiatives and unimaginable hours that have gone into building the quality of life that we enjoy today all because of volunteers, the lifeline of our city.