Many volunteer organizations in Calgary face similar challenges today. How do you recruit fresh faces, revitalize the weary troops and generally keep the fires burning in your community?

Part of the secret is revealed in a very old children’s ditty that goes “the more we get together, the happier we’ll be,” and one Calgary community has taken that simple motto to heart.

Marnie-Jo Worbets, president of Rosedale Community, believes that running events and bringing young and old together, is the ideal way to keep people connected and engaged.

She and Janica Fisher, her friend and business partner, have organized creative events in the northwest community for many years.

“I love planning events that bring people together. It’s very important in communities that they know each other. I love walking around my community and knowing people. It’s healthier for our community if everyone’s connected,” says Worbets, who became involved in Rosedale Community in the 1980s during a membership drive and has served in a variety of positions on the board of directors.

Worbets says she understands the time pressures that people face, and suggests that board members don’t have to “do it all.”

“Find people who have a passion for something and let them run with it,” she says. “We found someone who loves pilates so she’s giving lessons at the hall. Spread the work. Share the load, then things will happen.”

The community’s events committee makes sure to plan for children, teens, family, singles and senior’s events in their yearly line-up, which includes craft sales, Halloween parties, women’s shows, pub nights, dances and carnivals. However, Worbets personally enjoys engaging children in her events.

Several years ago, she and Fisher founded a company called Hip Kids that connects kids to causes, exposing them to the joys of volunteering in the community.

Worbets says they recruit volunteers via email, collecting addresses during their yearly door-to-door membership drive and keeping track of residents and members who come to their events.

“We seem to get volunteers quite easily that way,” she says, noting that Rosedale has one of the highest membership participations in the Calgary. “We have had a lot of success keeping community members updated using this system in the past number of years. All email addresses are kept strictly confidential.”

Wanda Weber, an elementary school teacher, has observed the benefits of Worbets’ social organization skills since the early 1990s, when their children were in kindergarten together.

“She involves every aspect of the community--kids, parents and grandparents. Her events pull them all together,” says Weber, who has implemented the Hip Kids program in her Grade 3-4 classroom at Haysboro Elementary School.

“Her efforts help make communities cohesive.”

People are more likely to participate in community activities if they feel they have social connections and a sense of belonging. It’s important for community associations to help facilitate this by offering programs and events. The government of Alberta website www.healthyalberta.com provides comprehensive information and tips on how to bring communities together, especially those with ethnically diverse populations.