The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 24 ,2 01 9 | 10 Volunteer opportunities Volunteers! Administrative Food & Nutrition Communications Child & Youth Volunteer opportunities: Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region wcswr.org/join-us/volunteering/ Visit our website for more information. We are seeking WANTE D ! Fun, dedicated people to help us awe, inspire & enlighten! THEMUSEUM is looking for energetic, bright and artistic volunteers to join our team as a Gallery Attendant for SPECTRUM. SPECTRUM is a seismic, interactive, immersive, mind-blowing, playable experience that requires docents to engage with visitors as they explore the exhibition. Contact Caitlin Wagg, Manager of Visitor Experience Caitlin.Wagg@THEMUSEUM.ca TT HH EE MM U SU S EE U MUM .. cc aa D ODOW NWN TT OOW NWN KK II TT CC HH EE NN EE RR Volunteer and Help a Young Child Learn to Read Become a Volunteer Coach You can make a difference • Work one-on-one with a child in SK, Grade 1 or 2 in a school in our Letters, Sounds and Words TM program • Play games to develop a child's literacy skills • All games and materials are provided • Attend two, 2-hour training sessions • Minimum time commitment 30 min./week for 10 weeks For more information: 519-743-9578 info@strongstart.ca | www.strongstart.ca Strong Start® Charitable Organization is a Registered Canadian Children's Charity #825948060RR0001 To register for Volunteer Coach training and find a school near you, please visit strongstart.ca. "It's so exciting to see a child start on that path of identifying letters and sounds…it's amazing to watch. I would highly recommend this program for anyone who wants to volunteer." - Bethany Jakob, Volunteer Coach Many of us underestimate the value of volunteer efforts. "The Value of Volunteering", research released in 2018 by the Conference Board of Canada, estimates the contribution of volunteers at $56 Billion, or close to 3% of GDP. This economic value attributed to volunteering is not how we are used to measuring volunteering. But what if we didn't have these volunteers? Volunteers provide resources for organizations that could not exist in any other way. Volunteers are mentors/tutors to youth or newcomers. They provide support to people living with life threatening illnesses. They usher in the theatre and they deliver meals to those who cannot get out for groceries. We think of these volunteers doing wonderful things for our community - and we are right. These roles are extremely important. These contributions add value that surpasses financial considerations, but it is also important for us to see this tangible valuation of volunteers, to understand a different kind of impact that is received through volunteering. In our busy world, many of us find our free time diminishing and, therefore value it even more. Consider using some of that time to volunteer. VALUING THE VOLUNTEER WATERLOO REGION - Kitchener and Waterloo will welcome legal pot shops, arguing it will pro- vide a safer product and help fight the illegal drug trade. But it's still unclear when the cities might see cannabis storefronts. On- tario has approved just sev- en pot shops to open across Western Ontario in April, in an area that stretches from Windsor to Niagara and up to Manitoulin. Potential operators were revealed Friday but their plans, locations and backgrounds won't be known until after Jan. 22, the deadline for municipal- ities to vote on whether they will allow retail pot shops. Both Waterloo and Kitchener councils unani- mously endorsed retail op- erations Monday. "The black market, it wreaks havoc on people's lives," Waterloo Coun. Te- nille Bonoguore said. She's persuaded that weed will be safer if purchased legal- ly from a regulated store- front. "To me, it's like buying your alcohol or getting your cigarettes," Waterloo Coun. Angela Vieth said. Allowing pot shops has several benefits, said Kitchener Coun. Bil Ioan- nidis. "If we have legally oper- ational storefronts, we have a regulated supply, it'll pay sales tax, it'll pay property taxes, it'll create jobs and it will restrict sales (of cannabis) to youth." Cambridge council votes Tuesday on whether to allow pot shops. A community that says no to storefronts can change its mind later. Say- ing yes can't be reversed. Saying yes gives munic- ipalities access to a share of the excise taxes the gov- ernment collects on canna- bis sales, and Coun. Paul Singh said it would be fool- ish for Kitchener to say no to that windfall. "If we opt out, we are los- ing sight of easy money that's on the table right now," Singh said. Coun. Scott Davey in Kitchener said that, if Col- orado's legal sales are any example, pot sales could generate millions for cit- ies. "I don't think the amount of money that we're getting, especially from the province, is a fair distribution of the wealth," he said. This region is expected to get at least one legal weed store in April. There are 14 cities in Western On- tario big enough to host seven storefronts ap- proved in Ontario's first round of private retailers. Ontario, which has been selling cannabis online af- ter Canada legalized it in October, is slowly approv- ing private storefronts af- ter retailers elsewhere had to close due to a shortage of legal cannabis. Waterloo Regional Po- lice Service asked local politicians to approve legal storefronts. "We want to look past the previous morality," Chief Bryan Larkin told Waterloo council. "Prohi- bition has ended." Police say permitting le- gal storefronts regulated by the province will be saf- er for consumers and help fight the illegal drug trade. Resident Stephen Her- zog urged Waterloo council to ban pot shops, arguing that storefronts should be located 800 metres from schools rather than 150 me- tres as Ontario requires. He's bothered that local councils can't regulate lo- cations. "You are being bullied by the province," Herzog said. "Just say no to bully- ing." Resident Liangan Yin asked Waterloo council to ban storefronts for now, while waiting to see how other communities adapt. Approval of pot shops by three local cities would bring $500,000 in provin- cial funding to help them adjust. Any local pot shops would be limited to areas where retail sales are per- mitted. Both cities are calling on the province to locate stores at least 150 metres from shelters and social services serving youth, ad- diction counselling servic- es, community centres, li- braries and rec centres, and other pot shops. Waterloo will ask that pots shops be located at least 150 metres from post- secondary institutions, child care centres and playgrounds. KITCHENER, WATERLOO COUNCILS VOTE UNANIMOUSLY TO ALLOW POT STORES On Monday, both Waterloo and Kitchener councils voted unanimously to endorse retail cannabis operations. Graeme Roy/The Canadian Press JEFF OUTHIT jouthit@therecord.com COMMUNITY