VOLUNTEERS NEWSLETTER
Dear volunteers,
The entire CNIB staff is proud to bring you our spring newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact Stephanie Michaud by email at . Happy reading!
June 13th, 2017
Volunteering needs
Vision Mates
Currently, 77 clients are waitingto benefit from the presence of a volunteer to do social activities, to go for a walk, to go shopping, to read printed materials to them etc. If anyone you know wishes to contribute to eliminating the isolation of one of our clients and increasing their level of autonomy, do not hesitate to refer them to us or let us know if you wish to volunteer with this initiative! Don’t forget that we serve the entire province of Quebec.
Mascot
We are seeking volunteers to wear a carrot costume, which is the mascot of the CNIB. These volunteers would be required to wear the mascot costume at various events. Ideal height and weight to wear the costume: between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet 2 inches and between approximately 170 and 200 pounds. Desired qualities: energy, enthusiasm and enjoyment spending time around groups of people.
Volunteers needed for special events and booths
The CNIB Quebec team organizes several events each year, including fund-raising events, sensitization workshops, information sessions and many others! We often require volunteers to help us make these days possible. (importance capital)
Computer Graphic Artist
Are you a creative individual who has skills with image processing software? You can help us occasionally create communication tools as well as Web banners, posters, logos and brochures to help us shine.
Screening for Eye Conditions
One of the CNIB’s missions is to promote vision health. We need a bank of volunteer optometrists and optometry or visual prosthetics students for our upcoming screening events. Please circulate this need within your networks.
Video Editing
We are looking for a volunteer who has the necessary equipment to create short video montages and who is ready to give us a hand. These brief videos will help us promote our services.
Phone Calls to Donors
The CNIB is seeking an individual who is available for a few hours each week to contact our donors to thank them and sensitize them about vision loss. We are looking for individuals who are good listeners, professional and ideally, those who have customer service experience.
Interested in one of these offers? Please contact Stephanie Michaud, volunteer coordinator by email at: or by telephone at 514 934-4622 p.226 or toll-free at 1-800-465-4622 ext. 226.
Did you know?
CNIB estimates than half of people affected byglaucoma don't know that they are living with an eye disease, wrongly believing that their vision loss is a natural component of aging.
Glaucoma, like other eye conditions, can be treated if it is detected early.
75 percent of causes for vision loss can be prevented or cured!
Encourage your loved ones to regularly consult with an optometrist without waiting for symptoms to arise.
What's happening at the CNIB
UPCOMING EVENTS, YOU’RE INVITED!
Dinner in the dark
Thursday June 15th, CNIB organise a 3 meals dinner at the restaurant O noir of Montreal to collect money for psychosocial services that will be offer un fall.
SERVICES OFFERED TO CNIB CLIENTS
Psychosocial services (in-person at CNIB Quebec office and by distance via telephone)
-Support groups facilitated by a social work technician to help individuals who are living with vision loss adjust to their new reality.
-Support groups for caregivers to help them become accustomed to their roles, better their ability to manage their emotions and to give them tips and tricks when caring for someone who is living with vision loss.
-Peer support group to reduce the isolation that may be experienced by individuals who live with vision loss. The sessions allow participants to discuss a variety of topics which they have the opportunity to decide upon. These groups are supervised by a volunteer facilitator.
Vision Mates
This program is helpful for clients who are isolated due to their visual limitations, by pairing them with a volunteer. Its objective is to promote their autonomy by offering individual support to these individuals with four main types of activities: reading and responding to received mail, having coffee or tea and an opportunity to socialize at the client’s home, accompaniment of the client to the grocery store or to the pharmacy and accompanying them to participate in social activities in close proximity to their residence.
PAST EVENTS
Visual health day at Tremblant
On March 17, the CNIB organized a day to provide information and sensitization, which was free to attend, at the Tremblant city hall with kiosks, a conference of various workshops related to various eye conditions, a workshop for caregivers of individuals who are living with vision loss and much more.
Consultations
There have been national consultations in order to gain knowledge about the community’s opinions on the ways in which the CNIB can continue to improve the lives of people living with vision loss. Since you are a part of our organization, we would like to hear from you! Thank you for your participation in our online survey.
TechnoVision+ fair
For more than fifteen years, the CNIB has been organizing TechnoVision+, the largest assistive technology fair for individuals who have vision loss and a major event about vision health. On May 5, there were many exhibitors who exhibited their products and services, workshops and the opportunity to be screened for an eye condition that may result in vision loss.
Canadian Blind Hockey Eastern Regional Tournament
CNIB was partner with AMI-télé of this tournament that has taken place at Glenn J. Chamandy Arena at Lower Canada College in Montreal, May 19 – 21. The event has featured some of the best Blind Hockey players on the planet. Julie-Anne Roy, Senior Manager, Programs and Services of CNIB Quebec and Isabella Federigi director of AMI-télégave the medals to winners.
The Right to Read Campaign
CNIB is calling on the federal government to develop a long-term plan to fund and produce more accessible books in Canada.More than three million Canadians live with a physical, visual or learning disability that could impede their ability to read standard printed materials. For these Canadians, books in accessible formats like audio, braille and electronic text represent a lifeline to literacy, and are critical to their participation in education, employment and community life. However, only a small percentage of all published trade books are available in these formats – most produced by CNIB and only partially funded by federal grants.
What’s new for volunteers?
Enriching workshops
We would like to offer themed workshops for our volunteers. The goal of these workshops will be to expand your knowledge related to vision health and will allow you to exchange information and ideas with other volunteers. Therefore, we invite you to suggest topics for these workshops. They are for your benefit, therefore, we want to create them with your interests in mind!
Creation of a Facebook group
The sharing of knowledge and experiences is important to the CNIB and we would like to give you such an opportunity by creating a closed Facebook group. It will be easier to help each other by giving mutual peer support as volunteers and will enrich your volunteer experience. You will receive an invitation to join this group shortly.
Volunteerportrait
Jean-François Dupuis,an engaged volunteer
By Colette Noël
Jean-François Dupuis is 38 years old. He is a specialist in Tui Na massage and teaches kung fu. In addition to his professional activities, he is involved with many charitable causes, both locally and internationally. In short he is an engaged and busy individual. At the CNIB, he is involved with the Vision Mates program, where he is paired with Françoise (fictional name), an 84 year-old female client who he meets with on a regular basis. The two have rich conversational exchanges. He speaks of Françoise like she is his sister, a precious companion who means a lot to him.
Since he was 12 years old, he did volunteer work with elderly people. “Volunteering was normal in my family” he says, by way of explaining the reason he has participated in volunteer work for a long time. To him, participating in the Vision Mates program is a simple extension of his journey as a volunteer. “Helping others, for me, is natural. I feel that this is what I need to do.” For most people, volunteering is an altruistic action, but Jean-François highlights that we are not completely disinterested when we volunteer. We like to engage in relationships with others and providing them with support and we feel a great sense of personal satisfaction from these experiences. “With Françoise, the term beneficiary does not only apply to her, but to me as well, as I also benefit as much as or more than her from this beautiful relationship that we have developed.”
*Tui Na massage is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine.
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