Canada's leading national youth service program, is looking for families willing to host Katimavik participants aged between 17 and 21 from across Canada.
Families who sign up can expect to host a young volunteer from Feb. 20 to March 6.
Get to know young do-gooders as they volunteer to make Prince George a better community, and discover what Northern living is all about.
As part of the program, French Canadian volunteers stay with a family to better understand the culture. It's also an excellent opportunity to benefit from a full-fledged linguistic immersion.
Each host family will receive a subsistence allowance for the host period.
The most recent Katimavik group arrived in Prince George on Jan. 5 and will live in the community for the next three months before heading to Amqui, Qubec to continue their six-month program.
The group is comprised of six women and five men, who are living in a house rented by Katimavik, and are supervised by a project leader who lives with them.
These young volunteers are working five days a week at local non-profit organizations, including the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Canadian Red Cross, Carney Hill Neighbourhood Society, St. Vincent de Paul, REAPS, Le Cercle des Canadiens Franais, Sacred Heart School, the Railway and Forestry Museum and PGPIRG.
Katimavik promotes civic engagement and fosters sustainable communities through challenging national youth service programs. Since 1977, Katimavik has enabled more than 30,000 Canadians to be involved in more than 2,000 communities throughout Canada. Volunteers between the ages of 17 and 21 live with 10 other youth from across the country in two or three communities.
They commit to six- or nine-month programs where they volunteer 28 to 35 hours a week for a variety of non-profit organizations. The youth also benefit from Katimavik's structured learning program that focuses on the development of life-long personal, professional and social competencies in the areas of civic engagement, healthy lifestyle, cultural discovery, official languages, communication, environmental stewardship and project co-ordination.
If anyone is interested in becoming a billeting family call 1-866-941-6589 ext. 2218 or e-mail the project leader, Jade Gregg at [email protected]. Each family that hosts a Katimavik volunteer receives a stipend to offset costs.
