The Fort Frances Volunteer Bureau (FFVB) is a not for profit registered charity mandated to promote, organize, and support volunteerism in Fort Frances, Ontario. Owning and operating a CN Station Heritage Site at 140 Fourth Street West in Fort Frances, we provide a stable physical location for volunteers and volunteer organizations to work from. With a variety of rental spaces, offices, and a main hall complete with kitchen, the building is easily adaptable to facilitate most charity events and volunteer organizations.

The recruitment, training, and organizing of volunteers is a big part of what we do but certainly not the only way in which the FFVB supports volunteerism. Partnering with other charities, volunteer organizations, service clubs, church groups, public health, mental health, the police, and various social services, are other ways in which the FFVB promotes the integration of volunteerism into the social network. 

The Family Centre is the flagship program currently being operated by FFVB volunteers. It is a drop-in center, open seven days per week, and provides many of the necessities and services needed by the poor and the homeless, regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity. The Family Centre provides soup and sandwiches, baking goods, fruit, water, hot and cold beverages, clothing, and blankets, to anyone in need and everything is free. All of the above items are provided by generous donations from members of the community and the surrounding Rainy river District. Several business and agencies help fund the program through cash donations. In emergency situations in the past, the volunteers of the Family Centre have stayed open all night to provide a 24-hour warming center for those needing to escape the bitter cold.

The old CN train station provides the Family Centre with washrooms, a shower room, laundry facilities, and a spacious lounge area with several large sofas and a sectional, complete with TV, movies, music, WIFI, a desk top computer with internet access, musical instruments, books, crafts, and board games. There is a large dining table that everyone is encouraged to eat at and engage in social conversation with each other and the volunteers. Eating at this large table helps to create a "family" like atmosphere and is the inspiration for the name of the program. 

Within the same area of the train station, the Family Centre volunteers operate a food bank that helps struggling families make ends meet. In the month of October, these same volunteers coordinate a coat drive that collects hundreds of coats from the public and redistributes them to poor people of all ages.

As with any large old building, utilities, repairs, and maintenance are always a pressing concern. The FFVB realizes the great importance of this building in providing a foundation from which volunteers and volunteer organizations can build their charitable work on. To that end, cash donations from the public a very appreciated. Our CN Station Heritage Site is a jewel in the rough and the FFVB plans to actively pursue funding, through fund raising and government heritage site grants, to restore our building to its former glory and in doing so, give the people of our community a landmark worthy of its heritage designation.

We strongly believe that the organizational structure of the FFVB is well suited to provide an avenue for today's busy person to participate in volunteer work without having to make an onerous time commitment. One of the main reasons membership in service clubs has been on a steady decline is due to the fear that busy people have of committing their time in a regimented way. The FFVB schedulers can accommodate any amount of volunteer time that a person is willing to commit to, whether it is sporadic or regular. 

The FFVB has no paid employees and is run completely by volunteers. Outside of basic utilities and minimal office expenses, every donated dollar is spent directly on improving the lives of people in need. By donating money to the FFVB, you can help ensure that the basic needs of the less fortunate of our community and district will be met and the building that makes it all possible will be properly maintained and restored. We hope you will give generously. Thank you for your interest.