Volunteer-of-the-Year
2022 Award: Nancy Bowie
 
 
 
Making the Presentation, Timothy Gay: 
 
I want to talk about the importance of volunteers.
 
Gans is a volunteer-led and volunteer-run organization.  We do have staff support - found here tonight in Ms. Lynn Martin and her husband - providing the infrastructure and continuity which we need.  The main work, though, is provided by volunteers, some more, some less, some in the Halifax area, some at the farther reaches of the province, but all pulling on the oars as they are able.  As they can contribute.
 
Working together, we learn new skills, build new programs and initiate projects, do dirty work, endure tedious tasks, learn from others, and have a good time.  Being a volunteer is rewarding, and it makes a difference.
 
In this work we do, we are preserving the knowledge of those who went before us.  We work on the building blocks of history - the family rleations and the friendship networks - the kith relations - of our ancestors.  In doing so, we provide the raw materials out of which historians do their own work.  It is a beautiful vision with many people collaborating together - each ploughing their own field - all part of a community preserving, recovering, and interpreting the knowledge of the past, making it accessible for the next steps.
 
If we see this knowledge of the past - the legacy of those who went before us - as contributing to the additions we make in our own time, then this historical endeavour is, indeed, a worthy effort.
 
This is where I am supposed to say "it was very hard to choose only one special volounteer out of the many who have and do cross our doorways each week to donate their time to charity and worth-while causes that benefit the many, rather than the few."
 
But, in this case, it's really easy to say when it's so true!
 
I work with volunteers all month who selflessly donate their time in many ways, from the governance and running of the organization to time spent on our many different projects, making a true difference.
 
The qualities considered in awarding the "Volunteer of the Year" award are ones that demonstrate:
  • Consistency;
  • Reliability;
  • Strong Effort;
  • Leadership;
  • A Team Player Attitude;  and
  • Organizational Ability.

In 2021, she accepted a Project Co-ordinator position, built her skills and knowledge in that role, and has successfully steered the "Research Support" team to become a major new service offering and source of revenue.  This role required the development of work-flow protocols and routine research and processing mechanisms, which she pioneered.  As a result of her management efforts, the team is an entirely volunteer-led and volunteer-run initiative, and the work requires negligible staff support.

This contribution deserves the award of "Volunteer of the Year".  I hereby present the 2022 Volunteer-of-the-Year Award to NANCY BOWIE.  Thank you NANCY for your outstanding work!