SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife's first group of Katimavik volunteers in quite a while departed the city recently, after spending months contributing their time to non-profit organizations.

During an open house in mid-January the participants and work partners got together to reflect on the time they spent in the North.

"I found it wasn't as cold as I wanted it to be, but I loved it," said participant Alex Lobkov. "Yellowknife has a friendly community."

Lobkov volunteered at Weledeh Catholic School working with children with special needs.

"I didn't want to go to (post-secondary) school right away because I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I got involved in the program and worked instead of wasting time," he said.

Now Lobkov says he is interested in becoming an assistant teacher.

Katimavik is a national youth service program where 17 21-year-olds spend six to nine months volunteering at non-profit organizations. The participants in Yellowknife were involved in the six month cultural discovery and civic engagement program.

Yellowknife became a part of the program last September, establishing a Katimavik house in town which houses its participants.

Marie-Lynne Belair from Montreal volunteered for the city, working at the Multiplex Arena as well as helping build and maintain the ice rink behind city hall.

"Yellowknife has a very sharing culture," said Belair. "I might come back in the summer to work because the city offered me a job."

Work partners around the city included Yellowknife Catholic Schools and Ecology North.

Laurin Trudel, president of Yellowknife Food Rescue, was one of the work partners involved with Katimavik.

"We had two volunteers from francophone communities," said Trudel. "It was a good experience, though sometimes there was a language barrier."

Volunteer Michelle Rodriguez said she joined the program to explore Canada. Like many other participants, she didn't know what she wanted to do after high school.

"My grandpa told me if you're going to take a leap year, don't do something that's going to put you in debt," said Rodriguez. "This helps young people find their calling."