
This week is National Volunteer Week, a celebration to appreciate the contribution of volunteers and encourage more people to get involved in their community.
At Monday’s Knoxville City Council meeting a National Volunteer Week proclamation was read by Mayor Brian Hatch which said “the City of Knoxville recognizes that volunteering improves our quality of life and increases community participation and ownership; and volunteers are vital to our future as a desirable, caring, and productive city.”
Knoxville has a large number of volunteer groups throughout the community along with volunteer based boards and commissions. City leaders are especially grateful for all of the volunteers that annually help out the week of the Knoxville Nationals and those who made RAGBRAI’s overnight stop in Knoxville last summer possible. City Manager Heather Ussery said she is thankful for all of the volunteers who make events in Knoxville possible.
“Community wide RAGBRAI was a huge event for us in the community and we literally had hundreds of people come forward to help us plan that event successfully so it was an opportunity for the council and the mayor to thank everyone involved in the community and the volunteer work they put in. We’re grateful for that because without volunteers a lot of events would not be as successful as they are.”
National Volunteer Week was established in 1974.