April 28, 2025
Did you know that each week, 400 St.Amant volunteers help enhance the lives of people with developmental disabilities or autism? On April 10, the Volunteer Appreciation Awards celebrated the kind, caring, and gracious individuals who donate their time to St.Amant. In honour of Volunteer Appreciation Week (April 27 – May 2), we will be sharing some words from the award recipients on their experience volunteering at St.Amant.
Mattea Thiessen is the recipient of the Youth Volunteer of the Year Award for 2025. They were recognized for their compassion, steady dedication, and resounding desire to advocate for others. You can often spot Mattea with her pal Jarrid. The two share a beautiful friendship that has bloomed over her years at St.Amant.
Mattea reflected on their time at St.Amant:
“My favourite memory at St.Amant is last spring right when things started to warm up and me and my Pal could finally go outside and enjoy the sun. We went outside and I got to tell him all about the artwork in Buhler Gardens that the Green Team had created the previous summer, he was laughing the whole time and then we somehow ended up doing shadow puppets and listening to music, it was a very uplifting and positive experience that stands out to me whenever I think about my friendship with Jarrid.
I like to tell people I have the best volunteer position in the world, I get to come and hang out with a friend and do the things we love together. It is simple things like reading and listening to music with Jarrid that without fail always make me smile, but my favourite part is dancing with Jarrid. We always listen to different kinds of music and he laughs at my attempts to dance to it! Seeing his smile is always refreshing and lights up my day!
I keep coming back because of that smile. Through our friendship Jarrid has taught me so much about communication, connection, and being present. It is our genuine friendship that will always keep me coming back! Also a shout out to the Volunteer Services team who I love to chat with and hangout with before my volunteer shifts!”
Mattea, your heart is filled with light and kindness, and we thank you for sharing it with the St.Amant community! Please visit our Volunteer page if you are interested in volunteering or would like more information about our Volunteer Services.
