National Volunteer Week (April 10 to 17) celebrates those across Canada and around the world who freely offer their dedication and service.
We salute the 12 million Canadians — half the population over the age of 15 — who take the initiative to volunteer at least once each year.
Volunteers are on the front lines of all the services essential to resilient communities: health care and recreation, heritage and arts, wilderness and agriculture, disaster relief and development, animal welfare and social justice, search and rescue, firefighting, and more.
A handful of heroes was identified in the 2006 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating: 11 per cent of Canadians volunteer at least 15 hours per month and account for four-fifths of all volunteerism — the typical Canadian volunteers roughly two hours per month.
The State of Rossland project found 80 per cent of men and 90 per cent of women participate in at least one volunteer organization, and Rossland’s top 19 per cent volunteer “once a week.”
If that’s roughly 15 hours per month, Rossland may have double the national proportion of volunteer heroes.
And many of our heroes are young: People aged 15 to 34 are more likely to volunteer at least once a week; those over 45 are more likely to volunteer, but on a less frequent basis.
As election season is upon us, first the nation’s, then ours, we also salute our municipal politicians whose meagre compensation does not match their hard work. Last election, for all our volunteerism, only half of Rosslanders went to the polls — about the same number who talked to a councillor, or attended an open house.
The quality of community is a question of involvement: Volunteers remind us that our actions matter most.
— Rossland News
