Club Volunteer Opportunities

One of the key ways in which club membership costs are maintained at a reasonable level is that the bulk of the work involved in actually running the club is done so as a result of the time and commitment provided by members who contribute volunteer hours.

Each member commits to provide a minimum of 3 hours of club time per month of membership (with a committed maximum of 12 hours per season). This is to encourage an equitable distribution, across the membership, of the efforts required to keep the club going. Members must pay $20 for unfulfilled volunteer obligations after sailing season's end (end of November). Fortunately it is easy to accumulate club hours by volunteering on an extremely wide variety of tasks in one or more of the following areas. 

It should be noted that working club hours is not only a way to fulfill an obligation as a result of your membership but it is also a terrific way to build relationships and friendships while gaining a deeper understanding of the inner workings of our club.

Here is an outline of the varied roles that will need member participation to succeed:

Social Events - Contact: John and Liz Doherty

From the Kickoff Party in May to the Holiday Party in December the club maintains an active social schedule and each of the events requires considerable effort to plan and execute effectively. Everything including advertising, sign-ups, decorations, event content, entertainment,  food and drink acquisition, and manning of the events requires folks either to participate on the Social Committee or people that will take on roles in the delivery of events.

 Membership Committee - Contact:  Bob Greenhalgh

It's all about bringing in new members and finding ways to make them feel welcome and included in the club. There are a lot of different programs in the club and there is no doubt that the sheer amount of information for a new member is daunting.  Maybe you'd like to volunteer for the twice annual open houses in which HSPBC opens its doors to the general public so they can find out all about the HSPBC and the Humber Sailing Club.

Flotilla Planning - Contact: John and Lesley Weatherhead

Aside from the main business of lining up the two and three day cruises, the flotilla committee (perhaps working  with the Social Committee) can use folks to organize dinner cruises or plan for the fireworks cruises  

Maintenance Activities - Contact:  Ian McCormick

You can choose to join in on the Maintenance activities at season launch, regular Maintenance Saturdays, or haul-out but even more valuable is if you can volunteer to lead the efforts on one of the many Maintenance projects that the committee identifies.

Mentoring - Contact: Ken Gillstrom

This is a key program at the club which always needs assistance from qualified skippers - particularly those that are good at sharing their knowledge and helping others up the learning curve towards themselves becoming a Skipper.  There are also specialized skills clinics that are always in need of member-mentors. 

Duty Skipper - Contact:  HSPBC Office Coordinator

Club members act as duty skipper on Monday, Wednesday, Friday evenings and on Sat/Sun am and pm slots. This role is entirely voluntary and it is crucial to ensure that members without skipper designations can easily get out sailing. It is especially important for new members who might not yet have the connections at the club to readily make up sailing plans

Committee Participation - Contact: Chairperson - Committee of Interest

There is a cross-section of committees which address the various functional areas of the club. Each of these will welcome new participants with new ideas and abilities to contribute.

Communications - Contact:  Commodore Dave Culm or Vice Commodore Val Macpherson

This is a key area which at present has no single member or committee focus.  It would involve such activities as designing, editing and distributing a weekly members Newsletter by email. Also each committee has its own special communications needs to keep members appraised of events and changes. Think about volunteering to be the Communications person for one of our committees. E-mail dave.culm@sympatico.ca or val.macpherson@bmo.com

Website Admin - Contact: Chairperson of Committee of Interest

Just as each committee needs a Communications person they also could use a Website administrator who will provide updates to the web pages from the HSC website that are their responsibility. Maybe a good Communications person could do both.

Racing – Contact:  Jim O’Neill 

The racing program is dependent on volunteers. Club hours can be accumulated by committing to leading the committee boat for an extended period, processing and posting race results, and through racing committee participation.  Volunteers are also needed for promotion, taking pictures, and BBQ duty however the hours contributed for these tasks do not count towards club hours.

Club Wear Coordinator - Contact: Commodore Dave Culm or Vice-Commodore, Val Macpherson

Perhaps you'd like to channel your inner wardrobe consultant as you select club wear and suppliers of items to be offered to our members, promote the sale of these items, provide information and advice on sizes, set up a process to take member orders, place orders with suppliers, and ensure that the club wear finds its way back to the member that purchased it.   

And there's more...

Participation at Boat Shows in January and July

Occasional office administrative tasks

Organizing the Rudder Rally (race) or the Lobster-fest Regatta race

Still can't think of how to earn those club hours? - then contact the Commodore or one of the other executive committee members and they'll be sure to get you involved.