Unsung heroes. The lifeblood of an organization. The glue that holds society together. These phrases are commonly used to describe the value of volunteers.
“In Powell River, volunteers are the backbone of the community,” said Powell River and District United Way executive director Dale Lawson. “We have a great number of organizations that are supported, or even entirely operated, by volunteers.”
However, volunteer burnout does occur and recruitment of the next generation has been a challenge for a number of organizations, said Lawson.
“We all volunteer in things we’re passionate about, and we’re all passionate about whatever our children are interested in,” said Lawson. “Helping organizations our kids are involved in is certainly a driving force in participating. When our kids grow out of that, where do we find ourselves?”
Sunday, April 23, to Saturday, April 29, is National Volunteer Week in Canada. Everywhere in Powell River, in places such as the backcountry, hospital, fire halls and church basements, people give their time to help others and serve the community in support of environmental and health issues, schools, charities, sports teams, youth groups and political candidates. For many, it is a responsibility of citizenship, and that is changing.
In its 2017 summary report, Volunteer Canada refers to the concept of individual social responsibility, which reframes the traditional definition of volunteering; it is no longer a hands-on act of donating time and energy to unselfishly serve the public without seeking recognition.
A significant shift in the evolution of volunteering comes through social media, including signing online petitions.
“It’s a huge thing; social media is the new way to volunteer for a lot of people,” said Volunteer Powell River (VPR) coordinator Jayde Bazinet.
According to Bazinet, volunteering has become, especially among the younger demographic, an activist part of a more fully integrated lifestyle, as opposed to joining a group to do events together.
“People are volunteering more on a micro level as an individual in their everyday lives,” she said. “For example, buying fair-trade coffee in the morning or organizing a car pool, that’s kind of the idea of what individual social responsibility means.”
Volunteering is about holding ideals beyond the value of things, added Bazinet.
According to Lawson, finding new ways to connect to volunteers with busy lives is essential for organizations to keep up with changing times.
“We can look at hosting board meetings in an online format so volunteers can attend from wherever they are,” he said. “It can also be embracing micro-opportunities to volunteer for specific tasks, such as website maintenance.”
Member-driven volunteer organizations, such as Powell River Health-Care Auxiliary, are still essential and run deep into local social values. Formed in 1945 by a small group of women who sold cigarettes and candy at a small gift shop in the hospital, the auxiliary has become one of the oldest, most visible and largest charities in town. It operates the Economy Shop on Alberni Street and the gift shop at Powell River General Hospital. Approximately 230 volunteers donate their time to the auxiliary. According to its president Ian Burke, 95 per cent of them are retired.
“This is a great organization,” said Burke, “which Powell River is very aware of, because of the amount of money we put back into the health care of the community.”
Estimating the value of a volunteer’s time is not an exact science. Volunteer Canada does not attempt to measure the social and economic value of volunteering, nor does the hospital auxiliary, said Burke.
“The sense within this organization is that we give back to the health care in this community,” said Burke.
Citing the example of Willingdon Creek Village, Burke said the organization was able to donate $975,000, with money coming from the economy and gift shops.
“When they came to us to outfit it with all the beds and stuff, they asked for $250,000,” he said. “We said, ‘No, we’ll do it all.’”
Volunteering extends into Powell River’s economy in many ways. The region’s increasingly popular tourism sector would not exist at its current capacity to meet demand if not for volunteers, according to Sunshine Coast Tourism executive director Paul Kamon.
“A lot of tourism takes momentum,” said Kamon. “A lot of that momentum, in our region particularly, is supported by volunteers. Events are where you see it the most, whether it’s Kathaumixw, PRISMA or the BC Bike Race; events in general are very much volunteer-driven.”
Kamon added that much of the region’s outdoor adventure tourism is a result of volunteers who built and manage Sunshine Coast Trail and other backcountry trails because they want to, which is the simple essence of volunteerism; people want to give back.
With the majority of volunteers in Powell River being retirees, there is a concern that the pool of people who have the spare time, and the will to step up, is becoming shallow. According to Burke, the shortage, perceived or actual, is not the same for everyone.
“With our organization, we’ve been very lucky,” said Burke. “There are people who are retirees and want to volunteer for this organization because of what it has done for the last 70 years.”
However, in the next 70 years and beyond, pressures to find volunteers are expected to become greater. Part of the solution could be found by educating young people.
At Brooks Secondary School, as part of their required graduation transition, every student must commit to a minimum of 30 hours of work or community experience. For some students, including 17-year-old Bayley Hollingsworth, that entails volunteering.
When applying for scholarships, Hollingsworth said one of them required her to calculate the hours she had spent volunteering. Added up, her hours amounted to 1,750, or 73 days, in the four years since she started grade eight at Brooks; that total is in addition to school work and athletics.
“I just love making people feel better,” said Hollingsworth. “I love putting on events and helping people. I’m always going to volunteer as long as there’s someone who needs help; it makes me feel good that I’ve helped a cause and created more awareness of something.”
