DEVOLIN PRAISES LOCAL VOLUNTEERS

Devolin Column

(April 7, 2005)

National Volunteer Week takes place across Canada April 17–23.  Plans are being made all over the country to celebrate the valuable contributions volunteers make to communities such as ours.

The importance of volunteers and voluntary organizations to Canadians’ quality of life cannot be overstated.  Every day, volunteers give freely their time, skills, creativity and energy for the benefit of people and communities – helping to make Canada one of the best places in the world in which to live.

Volunteers make an important contribution to Canadian society through the 160 000 non-profit and charitable organizations that operate in our communities.  More than half of these organizations have no paid staff – operating entirely through the contributions of volunteers.

In addition to playing a vital role in improving our quality of life, volunteers also have a significant impact on Canada’s economy.  The value of volunteer activity is estimated at $14 billion annually.

Volunteering also provides a unique opportunity for citizens to contribute to shaping their communities.  Each and every Canadian who volunteers is making a difference and helping to build a better country.

According to the 2000 National survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, six and a half million people, or 27% of Canadians aged 15 or older, volunteered their time and skills to a charitable or non-profit organization.

Unfortunately, there are signs Canada’s volunteer force is shrinking. Between 1997 and 2000, the total number of volunteers declined by 13%.  This translates into a loss of almost 1 million volunteers over a three-year period – from 7.5 million in 1997 to 6.5 million in 2000.

The core of volunteers is also becoming overburdened.  7% of Canadians contribute 75% of the volunteer work effort.  73% of Canadians do not volunteer at all.  At the same time, a majority of non-profit and charitable organizations report difficulties recruiting volunteers and board members and almost half of these organizations report difficulties retaining volunteers.

As more and more Canadians continue to face a time crunch, we need to consider new ways to involve volunteers from diverse communities and increase the national volunteer participation rate. 

If you know of a volunteer in this riding that should be recognized for his or her efforts, please call my Lindsay Constituency Office at (705) 324-2400 or (866) 688-9881, and I will personally mail them a certificate of congratulation for their hard work and dedication to this community.  This will only take a few minutes to do and will show a volunteer that their time donated to their cause is not taken for granted.

In closing, I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock. Our communities are richer because of you.