Editing 2000 Summer Olympics (section)

===Volunteer program===
The origins of the volunteer program for Sydney 2000 dates back to the bid, as early as 1992.

On 17 December 1992, a group of Sydney citizens interested in the prospect of hosting the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games gathered for a meeting at Sports House at [[Wentworth Park]] in Sydney.

In the period leading up to 1999, after Sydney had won the bid, the small group of volunteers grew from approximately 42 to around 500. These volunteers became known as Pioneer Volunteers. The Pioneer Volunteer program was managed internally by SOCOG's Volunteer Services Department in consultation with prominent peak groups like The Centre for Volunteering (Volunteering and [[TAFE]]. Some of the Pioneer Volunteers still meet every four months, an unseen legacy of the games which brought together a community spirit not seen before.

During the Olympic games, tens of thousands of volunteers (the official figure placed at 46,967)<ref>{{cite web|title=Sydney 2000 International Olympic Committee |url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529060201/http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=2000 |archive-date=29 May 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2009 }}</ref> helped everywhere at the Olympic venues and elsewhere in the city. They were honoured with a parade like the athletes had a few days before.<ref>{{cite book|title=Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad, Volume One: Preparing for the Games|date=2001|publisher=Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games|isbn=978-0-9579616-0-9|page=178|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/2000v1.pdf#page=180|access-date=19 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825203836/http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/2000v1.pdf#page=180|archive-date=25 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>