More people, fewer volunteer hours given in Alberta: report
By Elise Stolte, edmontonjournal.com March 21, 2012
About 45 volunteers from World Mission Society Church of God swept the sidewalks and picked up garbage on 97th Street north of 118th Avenue. The volunteers were participating in a worldwide environmental cleanup campaign.
Photograph by: Larry Wong , edmontonjournal.com
EDMONTON - More Albertans are volunteering but giving fewer hours, says the executive director of Volunteer Alberta.
Reacting Wednesday to a report released by Statistics Canada, Karen Lynch said that means more volunteers have to be found.
Statistics Canada found the volunteer rate increased nearly seven per cent from 2004-10, with 55 per cent of Albertans reporting they volunteer.
Those volunteers gave an average 172 hours in 2007, but 140 hours in 2010.
Lynch, whose organization was formed to support not-for-profit organizations and encourage volunteers, said the challenge is that people approach volunteering differently than in the past. Older generations, more closely tied to farming communities, tended to volunteer as a matter of course.
Volunteer organizations thought baby boomers would react the same way when they retired, but she has found they look for volunteer opportunities on their own terms, including more flexibility.
This generation “decided what they were looking for was balancing recreation and responsibility,” Lynch said. They set the terms and ask to be accommodated. “The vast number of non-profits are not prepared to do that,” she said.
estolte@edmontonjournal.com
twitter.com/estolte
Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/More+people+fewer+volunteer+hours+given+Alberta+report/6338892/story.html#ixzz1pufFfHio
Reacting Wednesday to a report released by Statistics Canada, Karen Lynch said that means more volunteers have to be found.
Statistics Canada found the volunteer rate increased nearly seven per cent from 2004-10, with 55 per cent of Albertans reporting they volunteer.
Those volunteers gave an average 172 hours in 2007, but 140 hours in 2010.
Lynch, whose organization was formed to support not-for-profit organizations and encourage volunteers, said the challenge is that people approach volunteering differently than in the past. Older generations, more closely tied to farming communities, tended to volunteer as a matter of course.
Volunteer organizations thought baby boomers would react the same way when they retired, but she has found they look for volunteer opportunities on their own terms, including more flexibility.
This generation “decided what they were looking for was balancing recreation and responsibility,” Lynch said. They set the terms and ask to be accommodated. “The vast number of non-profits are not prepared to do that,” she said.
estolte@edmontonjournal.com
twitter.com/estolte
Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/More+people+fewer+volunteer+hours+given+Alberta+report/6338892/story.html#ixzz1pufFfHio
I wanna walk the clean street!!
ReplyDeleteThey are the light and salt of the world!
ReplyDeleteWithout love volunteer work is very hard to do. Maybe they have great love like as children of God.
ReplyDelete