November 17, 2005 – Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, November 16, 2005 The Volunteer team for the 2005 Viessmann FIS World Cup to be held for December 10th and 11th at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre is ready for work. The volunteer roster now numbers 558, with a “reserve” list of about 100 volunteers waiting in the wings for duty assignment.
Although some of the volunteers will only work on the actual race days, others, like Rob Bernhardt, Chief of Competition, have been working on the World Cup for two or three years. The Organizing Committee, which oversees some 18 committees, has been in place for over a year. Many of the volunteers have also worked on Sovereign Lake Nordic Club activities in the past, although many are new to the sport and venue. The Club has tracked volunteer hours for a number of years; last year the estimated number of volunteer hours put in on competitions and other events was 20,000.

“Vernon and the surrounding area is known for its volunteerism” says Jane Seright, Co-Chair of the Volunteer Committee (with John Richey), “and this event is a perfect example of that community involvement. That and the excellent leadership and true teamwork of the volunteer corps is the reason the event will be successful. Many of the volunteers have made personal sacrifices to work on this event but the level of enthusiasm that remains is remarkable.”

The volunteer team has a wide variety of backgrounds – many of them are retired, some are still working full time and some are students. Many of them are doing “double duty” for the World Cup, working on more than one committee. Several of them are volunteering for other organizations as well. While most of them are from the Vernon area, many are from cross country ski clubs throughout the province and some are coming from as far away as Vancouver, Ottawa and Scotland to work on the World Cup.

“To be successful, events like the World Cup rely on the hard work, commitment and community spirit of volunteers”, said Tourism, Sport and the Arts Minister Olga Ilich. “Vernon should be very proud of this impressive volunteer turnout, and I’d like to thank everyone who is lending a hand in the effort to make help make this a first-class event.”

The value of the volunteer labour has been pegged at $350,000 for budget purposes but it will probably exceed this figure. Given the lean budget for this World Cup ($4 million), the organization cannot afford to have paid staff. The staff complement is only three people but they are working extremely hard and, in fact, can be added to the volunteer numbers as well.

There will be a Volunteer Rally on Wednesday, November 23rd, 7 – 9 pm at the Vernon Rec Centre for all assigned volunteers. Here they will receive their final briefing, accreditation and volunteer World Cup wear.