In recognition of services rendered, volunteers were invited by Alderman of Culture Orville Cottenie and library staff for a moment of thanks in Bib Scheldewindeke. The volunteers were rightly placed in the spotlights by ships Cottenie. A beautiful tribute. The municipal library can count on the help of many volunteers and there was also a lot of praise for the millers.
Alderman Orville Cottenie started his acceptance speech with a very nice sentence: ‘Volunteers don’t necessarily have the time, they do have the heart. Without their help, the social profit would have a hard time providing the community with the quality services and concerns we know today. Volunteers are unmistakable for associations, sports clubs, events,… He went on a poetic tour: ‘To compare with the language of the millers: volunteers not only take care of the maintenance of the windmill, they are also, so to speak, the blades, the shafts, the cogs, the millstones, in short, the parts needed to make a mill what it should be and what it was built for. And we can extend that comparison to the functioning of a municipal library. A library without volunteers can function, but has no soul. Service and personal enrichment is often the greatest motivation to volunteer. Seniors are often involved in the voluntary sector in order to smooth the transition from professional activity and retirement, they feel too young to be set aside from society, they are therefore also important and valuable. Workers usually see involvement in associations as a way to use their skills in an environment other than their professional activity, with recreational involvement taking precedence. Young people are mainly looking for recognition and action’.
Ships for volunteer work
only be beautiful but also necessary. Gratitude is good, but for the volunteer making appreciation and support tangible is essential. I think that resources and space should be made available to give what is so valuable an even better place in our municipality. Investments must also be made in the training of the volunteer. In my view, that is a task for the municipality’, spoke alderman Orville Cottenie.There was a big thank you for their selfless efforts and the hope to be able to rely on a great collaboration for a long time to come. The work of the many volunteers in Oosterzele indeed deserves a lot of appreciation. The volunteers were thanked with an oh-bon and a very neat reception with local delicacies: beer, cheese from Gijzelaarke and beer from Perijo. (mvdv, photos ddl)
