Our History

Founded in 1977, Volunteer Cowichan has been a hub of volunteering for almost fifty years, germinating many community seeds such as, Understanding the Early Years and Social Planning Cowichan. 

In the last decade, the lack of a federal strategy focusing on the value of volunteering led to a decrease in financial funding for volunteer centres across Canada. This caused many organizations—including Volunteer Cowichan–to seek a more secure and diversified financial base. We are honoured to now be the stable provider of seniors’ services through United Way’s Healthy Aging program.

We remain a centre of connection, a place to meet-and-greet, connecting people across generations and lived experiences. We pride ourselves as being an organic and responsive organization, exploring, “Who are we now? How can we be of most service? Who will we be ten years from now?”