The countdown is on for the 2023 Canada Winter Games in P.E.I.

Monday was a busy day for some volunteers getting the rest geared up and ready to go for the Canada Winter Games in Charlottetown just two weeks away.

“It’s a fun thing to do. Plus, it’s good to give back to the community,” said volunteer Rufca Hanna. “I was an athlete and I’ve always had coaches and people backing me up, so I thought this was a good way to support other ones.”

Half of the total volunteers, about 2,500 of 5,000, have already picked up their games-kit and badges.

Much of the onboarding is done, role-specific training is finished, and now they’re getting volunteers up to speed on the venues.

“Where they show up, check in when they get there, where they have their breaks,” said Kim Munro, manager of volunteer services. “All that sort of information.”

Volunteer sign-up was open for months. So many people signed up, organizers needed to start a waitlist.

That waitlist has come in handy considering they’ve needed to pull from it for some specific skilled roles.

“At this point, volunteers are declining shifts, and we’re having to fill in any gaps where they may exist,” said Munro. “Just because peoples’ lives change, or their schedule changes, so we need keep constantly rescheduling.”

Though, on the whole, they’ve managed to do that with the current pool of people.

For those who’ve offered to give up some of their time to help put the event on, there’s excitement in the air.

“I’m excited for them. I’m actually excited for it to happen,” said Hanna. “I think it’s going to be a great time, and you know what they say, ‘It takes a lot of people to make the wheel spin,’ so it’s good to do it, and it makes me happy to do this.”

People were coming through the doors of the volunteer centre in Charlottetown almost endlessly Monday, getting their gear, getting signed in, and getting ready to help put these games together in less than two weeks.

The games run from Feb. 18 to Mar. 5.