Volunteer Profiles

Meet our Volunteers!

Meet Wesley!
Wesley kindly shared with us his extraordinary journey. He was paralyzed in 2010 and spent two years in a wheelchair. Slowly but surely, he regained his ability to walk and eventually to drive again, however he was unable to work. He received so much support during his disability that he felt inspired to help others himself. This is when he heard about volunteer driving needs at FACS and, luckily for us, was willing to give it a try. He became a Volunteer Driver in 2019. Wesley volunteers one to two days a week and is willing to step up and do more when necessary.
Wesley believes that in order to be successful at this position you need to love driving, love to volunteer and have empathy, be a good listener and treat everyone with love and care. Wesley loves having a positive impact on children and youth he drives. He says that giving back in this way makes him feel useful and gives him great joy to help others.

“I love to volunteer for FACS because everyone is so kind and caring. FACS is a great organization and does wonderful work in our community.”
Thank you, Wesley – for going above and beyond to provide support to the children and families in our community!!! We couldn’t do this work without your help!!

Meet Annette, she started driving for the Agency in April of 2006. She had a dear friend who had been fostering for many years. One day she took the time to explain to Annette how volunteer driving worked at FACS. And this changed everything. Annette had been driving as a volunteer for a couple of other organizations at that time but quickly realized that FACS could keep her as busy as she wanted to be: 30-hours-a-week busy, as a matter of fact. In July of 2024 we had the pleasure of witnessing Annette receive an Ontario Volunteer Award for many years of dedicated volunteering.
Here are some nuggets of wisdom from Annette herself:
“I volunteer with FACS because I love children and I love to drive. One of the best things about being a volunteer is meeting so many different people, kids and adults. I have made lasting friendships with other volunteers and with the youth I drive.
To any new volunteer I would say try not to be overwhelmed when you first start. Ask for help if you need to and talk to the kids, explain you are new; most of them love to help.
I love rethinking why I do what I do almost 20 years in, and it turns out I still love the kids and driving and would highly recommend FACS to anyone thinking of volunteering.”

Please join us in thanking Annette for pouring her heart and soul into supporting the families we serve!

Meet Lindsay, one of our amazing Mentor Volunteers. Lindsay first became involved with us September 2023 when she moved back to our Region after graduating with her Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. During her degree, she volunteered with many different agencies but after moving back to the Waterloo Region, she knew she needed to be involved in her community. Lucky for us – she saw our volunteer program and wanted to get involved with us!

Whether she is lending a listening ear or providing her mentee with fun distractions – they have created a safe space together. Showing up means so much. Lindsay shared that sometimes you may feel like you can’t solve someone’s problems or aren’t doing enough but showing up means more to them than you can imagine. Her mentee has shared that that going on a car ride is some of her favourite parts of their meet ups. The activities don’t have to be extravagant, sometimes it is the smallest things that mean the most.

One her favourite memories so far recently happened after a drive together. They have spent many sessions together studying to help her mentee prepare for driver training and writing the G1 test. They went out to get food, and Lindsay had parked completely crooked. Her mentee got out of the car and pointed it out and they shared a good laugh together.

Lindsay continues to volunteer because of the positive impact she has been able to create with her mentee while having a great support system behind her at FACS. What she enjoys the most is making her mentee smile and laugh and being able to share new experiences together.

Thank you, Lindsay – for going above and beyond to provide support to the children and families in our community!!! We couldn’t do this work without your help!!

Meet Peter, one of our amazing Volunteers. Peter became involved with us in July 2020 right after he completed his ECE. He started out with us as a Volunteer Driver, and with his background working with children – we were able to move him into other roles at the Agency. Currently he works with our Resilience Project Youth programs: Creative Spaces and Mini-Act Theatre and he has recently started helping with our Incredible Kids program.

Peter’s advice to new volunteers is to enjoy every moment. Talk and Laugh with the children, and always have a smile on your face. What keeps him volunteering is the awesome people that he works with: the children, youth, families, and staff. It’s a very supportive place that is friendly, caring and all around awesome. Yes - we are pretty awesome too!! 😊

Peter loved his time as a volunteer driver but is very happy with all his new roles supporting our children & youth programs. His new assignments support his love of music and his desire to make a difference with children & youth. Whether it’s singing along, playing the guitar or just being there where they need to talk- he loves sharing those moments and sharing encouraging words with the children he works with.

Thank you, Peter, – for going above and beyond to provide support to the children and families in our community!!! We couldn’t do this work without your help!!