The Big Give is an event supporting central Victorian community groups. The Bendigo Advertiser will be profiling several of the registered campaigns each week until the initiative ends with a 24-hour giving day on September 1. 

The Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre helped 3600 people last year. 

Those volunteers donated about $5.92 million worth of time and energy to the communities in which they lived.

The centre, located at the Bendigo Library, helps match would-be volunteers with opportunities.

It defines its role as providing the vital links for resourcing, supporting, and connecting volunteers and organisations across central Victoria.

“It’s often about giving the gift of your time to assist something or someone else that makes us happy,” centre manager Helen Yorston said. 

Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre also provides training, which 235 leaders of volunteers have attended this year to date.

Devoted as it is to helping the community, it has appealed for some assistance in return. 

The centre is seeking to raise $5000 with its Big Give campaign, “Cheers for Volunteers.”

“The Big Give opportunity is important not only to raise funds to continue supporting our community, but also to promote and highlight the links the Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre makes between people who want to volunteer and organisations who require volunteers support to achieve their services,” Ms Yorston said.

The Big Give is a crowdfunding initiative aimed at supporting causes that give back to the community. 

It started on August 1 and ends with a community giving day on September 1, when registered campaigns stand to win a share in a $30,000 prize pool based on funds on the day. 

The Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre campaign is among more than 60 registered on the Big Give website. 

Most of the organisations that have registered Big Give campaigns rely heavily on the efforts of volunteers.

According to the Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre website, there is no such thing as a typical volunteer.

“Anyone can volunteer, and it really does make you a better person and our city a better place to live,” it reads. 

The centre celebrated 10 years of service in November 2012, at which point it had helped more than 20,000 individuals.

It became an incorporated association in August 2013, and has been located at the Bendigo Library since February 2014.