By: Sciannell Vellone
I began volunteering at The Net in June of 2020. I started out as a volunteer in the youth program where I held the role of Brand Executive. I was able to curate the brand fonts, colours, and aesthetic you see on our social media today. From there, the roles of Committee Co-Leaders developed and I co-led the Social Media Committee. I was able to oversee The Net’s social media presence and continue to adapt it to get our message out to as many youths as possible. I decided to take a social media course, which provided me with the tools to create a marketing strategy and brand the program. I also introduced The Net as a new client to a design firm I worked at, designwerx. This partnership allowed us to develop a website for the organization.
In June 2020, The Net consisted of 16 other members and myself – there are now over 50. We have been able to reach hundreds of youth through social media, currently having over 500 followers on Instagram (@thenetacs). As a reflection of our work, we have had multiple recipients of our volunteer projects reach out to us expressing gratitude for the impact we made on their lives.
I just finished working at Ancaster Community Services as the Youth Program Facilitator for the summer, which allowed me to see the overarching impact of The Net. Seeing the behind the scenes work that goes into organizing this program and running events has been an eye opening experience that I value deeply. Kayla, our Youth Program Coordinator, had been able to support me greatly in this role and I couldn’t think of a better person to have been working under.
As I transition from The Net to post secondary, I am confident that I will continue to develop my volunteer efforts. I’m so grateful for the beautiful little things The Net has been able to provide me with. The smiles from our donation recipients, the laughs with volunteers at events, and the caring community at weekly team meetings have all made such a wonderful impact on my life. I know I will integrate my learnings from this organization into multiple aspects of my life going forward and cannot wait to visit soon!