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Volunteering in La Petite-Nation, the groups that need a hand

Food banks, meals on wheels, friendly visits, lake sentinels, Christmas markets. Where to give two hours a week in La Petite-Nation, and who to call.

By La Petite Nation ·

Shopping carts filled with donations during a food bank drive
Photo: Benoît Prieur, CC0

In a village of 500 people, the Saint-Jean party, the bingo, the food drive and the winter carnival don't happen by magic. It's the same twenty or so people setting up the tables every time, and they're starting to feel it.

If you're new here, or a cottager who's around more than you used to be, volunteering is also the fastest way to actually know people. Faster than any Facebook group. Most of these organizations work in French, but plenty of people here switch languages without blinking. Here's where to knock, sorted by what you like doing.

Feeding people

Banque alimentaire de la Petite-Nation (BAPN), on Route 317 in Ripon, helps families and low-income people across the MRC. It's always looking for volunteers. Office hours Monday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (closed noon to 1): 819 983-3191, or bapn.ca.

La Mie du Partage, the food bank for Val-des-Bois and Bowman, is run 100% by volunteers. Emergency food help, community kitchens, a Christmas sharing store and the annual food drive. Phone 819 593-0252.

Alliance alimentaire Papineau, on rue Principale in Saint-André-Avellin, runs the community fridge, meals on wheels, community kitchens, a seed library and a fruit-tree planting project. There are community kitchens in Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix, Montpellier, Boileau and Saint-Émile, among others. Office Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: 819 983-1714.

For hunters: at a Chasseurs généreux certified butcher like Débitage des Cantons in Lochaber, you can donate part of your game to food banks. Just ask at the counter.

Spending time with seniors

The Comité régional troisième âge Papineau (CR3A), the "yellow house" on rue Principale in Saint-André-Avellin, has helped seniors stay in their homes since 1978. Its services include friendly visits, check-in calls and a tax clinic, the kind of work that runs on donated time. Monday to Thursday: 819 983-1565.

The CHSLD Petite-Nation volunteer committee, on rue Saint-André, spends time with residents of the long-term care home. A good way in if you want to be useful without a complicated commitment: 819 983-7341.

And the MRC's shared transport service, TAC Papineau, runs mostly on volunteers. If you like driving, give them a call at 819 308-0788.

Helping kids

  • The Optimist Clubs in Thurso and Saint-André-Avellin run activities and contests for kids, all volunteer-based. Thurso's club puts on a lot of the town's events: Easter bingo, a comedy dinner show, the Saint-Jean evening, Christmas stockings and a turkey bingo.
  • Petite-Nation minor hockey hosts the Tournoi des Seigneurs every fall. There's no such thing as a hockey tournament without parent volunteers.
  • Cadet Corps 1786 Louis-Joseph-Papineau meets Thursday evenings in Papineauville. Its committee can be reached at 438 870-0600.

Festivals and markets

The region's big events lean on organizations you can contact directly:

Cup of cappuccino on a wooden counter in a small caféIllustration

Café

Café des Orties

Ripon

Non-profit community café inside the Manoir de Ripon, with organic local food, wine, beer, cider and cocktails, board games and art on the walls.

Café des Orties, in the Manoir de Ripon, is itself a non-profit community café. In Chénéville, Un trésor de friperie is tied to the parish bazaar, so the money stays local. In Saint-André-Avellin, Service de vêtements Petite-Nation works the same way, Wednesday to Saturday.

Village rec committees

This is volunteering at its most local. Every village has a committee, and nearly all of them post everything on Facebook: Montebello, Namur, Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix, Papineauville's Corporation des loisirs, Boileau's, the Val-des-Bois/Bowman committee, Chénéville's sports and rec committee. In Lac-des-Plages, the ASLCLDP keeps things moving with pétanque, a book club, travel films and a fundraising bingo.

In Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, the Alliance pour le développement is a citizens' group that helps people put on family events. Got an idea for a party but no team? Them.

In Saint-André-Avellin, the Commission des sports, loisirs et culture runs the village bingo and hands the profits to local non-profits that apply. The Knights of Columbus are active in Thurso, Ripon, Saint-André-Avellin, Chénéville and Val-des-Bois. In Thurso they run the winter carnival, a corn roast, a golf tournament and the "jeunes de cœur" (young at heart) supper in December.

Outdoors: lakes and trails

The nicest volunteering in the region might happen in a canoe on a July morning.

  • The Lac Gagnon Property Owners Association (APLG) in Duhamel trains about thirty volunteer "sentinels" every summer to patrol the lake for Eurasian watermilfoil.
  • APELDP in Lac-des-Plages monitors and controls milfoil and samples the water. Always looking for volunteers.
  • Club Skira in Duhamel grooms more than 40 km of ski and snowshoe trails near the reserve's Gagnon check-in. The fall work bee is now.
  • Snowmobile clubs run on volunteers too. Easy win: when you buy your FCMQ trail pass, buy it under a local club's name, like Chénéville's AMVN. The money stays in local trail upkeep.

More on lakes in our lake associations piece.

Camps with a mission

Sitting room of an inn on Île d'Orléans with red curtains, a chandelier and antique furnitureIllustration

Lodging

Camp Ozanam

Saint-Émile-de-Suffolk

A charity family camp that hosts low-income families in summer and rents simple cabins the rest of the year. Beach, trails and a thrift shop.

Sitting room of an inn on Île d'Orléans with red curtains, a chandelier and antique furnitureIllustration

Lodging

Camp SAJO

Saint-Sixte

Youth organization on 250 acres of forest, with a lake, pool, water slides, trails and four cabins for rent year-round.

Camp Ozanam in Saint-Émile-de-Suffolk hosts families each summer who couldn't otherwise afford a holiday. Camp SAJO in Saint-Sixte is a youth organization on 250 acres of forest. Two places to keep in mind if you want a cause where you see the results.

How to start

Pick one thing. Call. Say what you can give, two hours a week or one weekend a year, and stick to it. Groups here would rather have someone reliable for two hours than someone keen who vanishes in November.

Every group in the region is in our Community directory, town by town.

RiponSaint-André-AvellinVal-des-BoisBowmanThursoDuhamelLac-des-PlagesMontebelloMontpellierNotre-Dame-de-la-SaletteChénévilleSaint-Émile-de-SuffolkSaint-SixteLochaber

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