By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

2019 Canada Winter Games needs many more volunteers

Apr 30, 2018 | 10:47 PM

The 2019 Canada Winter Games need you.

Board Chair Lyn Radford and CEO Scott Robinson gave their latest quarterly update to Red Deer city council on Monday.

They said Games organizers have registered about 1200 volunteers to date. However, they need 5000 and are getting ready to do a lot more recruiting throughout central Alberta.

“If you can get your volunteer application in, that would be really appreciated,” Radford said, confident they will meet the mark. “Another piece would be corporate sponshorship. It’s a fun way to get your staff engaged, but it also helps us with our targets. The last is engagement — just come out and have fun and welcome the nation.”

Robinson said they have achieved around 81 per cent of their sponsorship target, but that means there’s still a ways to go.

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As far as staffing, 43 positions have been filled, 53 per cent of which are local hires. Another 33 per cent are from elsewhere in Alberta. The remaining 14 per cent are from across Canada, and six staff are fully bilingual.

Robinson noted to council that they will be meeting with Francophone groups inside and outside Red Deer soon to try and acquire a few more bodies that can speak both English and French.

In addition, the duo shared with council plans for a legacy project this September 29 which involves planting 2019 trees in the city.

Meanwhile, the MNP Canada Games Torch Relay will kick off in October, the Celebration Plaza downtown is slated to open November 5, and a special Hall of Honour Celebration Dinner is set for February 14, 2019, a night ahead of the opening ceremony.

The official Games volunteer registration centre is set up at Ing & McKee at 2830 Bremner Avenue.