The Portage Plains United Way is looking for your help, as they prepare to host two poverty simulations next week. The previously held one of the exercises for the high school teachers at Portage Collegiate, and will now be hosting two sessions for elementary teachers at La Verendrye school on April 8. United Way Executive Director Mandy Dubois says while they already have the teachers in place, they now need outgoing volunteers to help run the simulation, which aims to raise awareness about the daily challenges faced by those living in poverty.

"What I need is the volunteers who are going to work at the grocery store, who are going to be the employers, the day care workers, I need those people. I wouldn't say it's a great volunteer opportunity for someone who's shy, because you do need to interact with the teachers, and you're going to have to take on that role."

She notes while the teachers are the actual participants, the volunteers also get a glimpse of the lives of some of those living in Portage. While their volunteers need to be ready to be actors for a half-day, Dubois says they provide some support to ensure their volunteers can take on the roles.

"The good thing is that we gather all the volunteers ahead of time, and they're given their roles a few days prior to the simulation so they can get comfortable with it. We also do a little training session with them before the teachers actually come so you do get pretty prepared for it, and there are people volunteering who are familiar with it and have done it before."

They're looking for volunteers for both April 8th sessions, the first running for 8:30 to noon, and the second from 12:30 to 4 pm. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Dubois at the United Way Office at (204) 857-4440 or email at info@portageplainsuw.ca. They're hoping to have the volunteers in place by the end of the day on Thursday.