Making a difference in a community can start even from the smallest of actions, the audience at the “Women of Distinction” gala event were told by guest speaker, Jordan Szczecinski.

She was a winner last year of an award, and was asked to give an address to this year’s gathering of award nominees, their families and friends, and community members who gathered Friday night at McKenna Hall for the award presentations.

In her speech prior to the awards, Szczecinski noted that when she grew up here, she felt like she couldn’t wait to get out of Weyburn – but then she was “volun-told” to be a volunteer with the Weyburn Red Wings along with her mom (who was the billet coordinator for the team), and she discovered this was something she very much enjoyed as she worked in the merchandise shop and chuck-a-pucks.

“I learned how to talk to people, and how to organize things,” she said, and took what she learned there to be on the SRC at the Comp, grad coordinator, work part-time, and play hockey.

Moving back to Weyburn after university, she wasn’t playing hockey anymore, and wondered what she could do as she wasn’t a part of anything bigger than herself.

She connected up with the Weyburn Oilwomen, helped form a women’s rec hockey team, put her hand up to help the Weyburn Beavers, started coaching kids in hockey, and she also joined the Chamber of Commerce board.

“I got to move back to the community that raised me, and helped form my core values and beliefs, and I found out a place is only as good as you can make it, and that I could have an active role in that,” said Szczecinski.

According to her information, in Canada there are 24 million people who collectively volunteer about 2.5 billion hours each year, but also that women are six times more likely to volunteer than men 56.8 per cent of the time.

There are three factors to volunteering, she said: time, labour and resources. While many people feel that volunteering to be on a board or helping with an event will cut into their time, she noted that of those 24 million people who volunteer, they spend on average two per cent of their time each year, which equates to about 200 hours in a year.

“That can equal 50 sporting games, or 33 school days, or planning of 20 fundraising events in the community. It seems to me that the smallest part of your year can make a significant impact on the community,” she said.

The key to starting out as a volunteer is first think about what you are passionate about in your life, what your core beliefs have you involved in.

Getting into why she volunteers, Szczecinski said she has many reasons, including that it has led her to form lifelong friendships, and that it keeps her active mentally and physically.

“Making a difference is finding ways I can contribute, even if I don’t get to be the one to experience the results,” she said.

In the end, she issued three challenges to her audience. First, to introduce one’s self to someone in the room they hadn’t met before; contribute an hour to something or an organization in the next month and see where it takes you; and thirdly, celebrate the accomplishments you do make and let others know about them.