Emergency Disaster Services Volunteer Committed to Improving Peoples’ Lives

Olivia Vansevenant’s passion for volunteering developed at a young age. This desire to help others has led her to The Salvation Army in London, where she is an active volunteer with The Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services in Ontario. Her skills and experience have made her a valued member of the team since signing up last fall.

While attending King’s University College at Western University, where she studies criminology and psychology, Olivia also gives her time to The Salvation Army Street Outreach Team in London where she responds to cold weather alerts to serve warm beverages and snacks to anyone in need.  She also assisted with organization of a recent Emergency Disaster Services training exercise in Woodstock, which simulated a response to a weather disaster.

“Emergency Disaster Services gives me a sense of community and allows me to see the world through the lens of the people around me in a way that a lot of experiences can’t,” Olivia says.  “EDS volunteers are such a diverse group and I get to work with people who have more experience and who live lives that are completely different than mine.”

Growing up in Hamilton, Olivia was often volunteering in her community, so when she moved to London for university, the memory being able to make difference in people’s lives returned. To fill her free time, Olivia reached out to The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services, looking for an opportunity that complemented her education.

“I wanted more of that interpersonal experience to know how to help people when they’re in crisis because that’s so different than when you have a normal conversation with them,” Olivia says.

“Working with EDS is really rooted in wanting to be more involved in learning how to best help people when they need it. It creates a community and a sense of togetherness and connectedness.”

Thank you, Olivia, for your dedication and selflessness to The Salvation Army’s vision to bring hope wherever there is hardship. To learn more about The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services in Ontario, or to become a volunteer, please visit www.salvationarmy.ca/eds.