The On Canada Project
Indian Residential School Survivors Society
University of Alberta - Indigenous Canada
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls
We constantly assess how the VolunteerConnector is working for people interested in volunteering and for the organizations that use it. There are a ton of ways we do this, mostly it is about listening. We know the best way to serve communities across Canada to listen to the humans who utilize the platform, what they feel like is awesome or the spots they think could use a little attention. We also listen to the data; we look at what is unusual, weird, what makes us go huh?
The results are awesome, it means a continually evolving platform that is informed by the experience of real humans. People we love and who love us.
When you see changes on volunteerconnector.org it is the result of hundreds of hours research, trials, and conversations. And love. We take the space we hold in this ecosystem seriously. Our team spends our time, energy and resources on making volunteerconnector.org the very best so everyone else can focus on their vital work. We are so grateful for all the communities that have trusted us in supporting their citizens engaging in things that they care about. We can't wait to meet and welcome more people into the VolunteerConnector coterie (I looked up a lot of words...this one felt right!).
For the longest time since I can remember, I had never been a fan of little children. All the screaming, crying, messiness - it just drove me insane. People would look at me like I was an alien from an outer planet when I told them I very much disliked kids. Now, however, you can find me daydreaming about what it would be like to have my own kids someday. So, how did that change? Long story short, volunteering changed my entire outlook on children.
I first started volunteering out of sheer desperation. Applications for a specific high school I wanted to attend were drawing to a close, and they required a certain amount of volunteer hours. The hours I currently had in my bank? Zero. I know, my motivations for donating my time weren’t all that noble. But, we all have to start somewhere, right? Well, after countless hours of searching, I came up with one possible opportunity. Unfortunately, though, the opportunity involved helping kids with their bible study at my church. Biggest. Nightmare. Ever. Reluctantly, I headed towards my first shift. Two hours later, I was drained. The next shift rolled around, and I was in a debate with myself over whether to go or not. Finally, my morals poked at my sides, and I dragged myself to the church. This persisted for the next couple of months. Despite my earlier hesitations, however, I began to notice a change in myself. I was so much more open-minded, and the kids there were starting to grow on me. The way they would look up at you adoringly when you read aloud, and the way they beamed when you gave them a high five. Soon enough, I began to look forward to my upcoming shifts.
Through this experience, I have learned that beautiful things don’t come without hardship. Although I endured countless hours of wailing children, I was also rewarded with the sacred relationship I formed with them. I have also learned that persistence is key to success. If I had not pushed myself through those first few weeks, I never would have found myself here now. I hope that my story can encourage others to persevere, as there will always be a prize at the end.
Thank you,
Yuri Choi
One of our fav people, Adam Grant, wrote a widely shared article in the past couple weeks about our current state "languishing". The zoom conversations that I am having where people have the energy to have their cameras on involve a lot of blank stares. I, myself have been trying to complete my online grocery order for 2 weeks. It's a time. We are all holding our breath and putting one foot in front of another.
The bandwidth required for taking a new volunteer role or imagining if that gala fundraiser can happen in the fall may not be present right now. It is ok, this is where mircovolunteering comes in. Liking, sharing, commenting on social media is a little something to elevate a cause you care about. It matters.
Check out this awesome example from the cool people at GlobalMedic!
Want to see how we compare to the latest data released from Statistics Canada from 2018?
Younger people most likely to volunteer? Same!
Millennial and Baby Boomer women had higher rates of volunteering than men within the same generations – Totally
Event organization and fundraising most common types of formal volunteering – Um, what?
People are really into informal volunteering – Yeah, of course!
Young people love disseminating information? YUP!
Last week to celebrate National Volunteer Week we started a conversation about the unspoken realities of volunteerism. We are continuing to feel all the feelings!
It is difficult to acknowledge that hurt can still happen with the best of intentions. Lots of reasons for this...structures, ignorance, systems not designed for the human. The act of volunteering can result in harm for people. Whether that is the process of recruitment requiring someone to interact with police or whether that is a board meeting that is not a safe place, we all need to own our part in assessing the ways in which we magnify or create harm and oppression.
There has been a shift in the past decades where organizations have altered their volunteer roles into a more skilled and flexible place. Volunteerism in most forms still offers a very “thin relationship” (Dean Spade). One can't help but wonder if we dedicated more time and energy to thinking about and addressing the complex and unique problems in our own communities instead of getting the hit of dopamine for something mundane for an industrial charity what we could shift for each other? For our communities?
Maybe this is still feeling like a lot, maybe you are about to write a second email to tell us exactly why we are way off base, maybe you are feeling defensive of yourself or your organizations. That is still ok. Centre the voices of people in your organization who are underrepresented, do what they recommend, circle back to check to see what still needs to be done. There is still not a checklist for solutions, a certification for completion and perfection is still not possible so just start doing something.
Inspiration and information for this piece was taken from the below people and spaces:
This week is National Volunteer Week here in Canada, a time to celebrate the time, energy, and value that volunteers offer to communities and organizations across the country. Volunteerism and the giving sector have a reputation as a feel-good time and space, it is the warm and fuzzies in a world where these moments can feel few and far between. We should celebrate people for the good work they do but we also need to acknowledge some truths. This is not about to be some big expose on the sector or volunteerism it is just going to outline things we all know but never say.
It costs on average $1700/year to participate in volunteering. There are many people in our country who do not have the luxury of spare time or energy to dedicate to even thinking about pursuing something that sparks joy in their spare time because their spare time does not exist. They are too busy meeting basic needs for themselves and their families. It means those voices are often missing at the tables in spaces designed to support these same humans.
In recent qualitative research out of the United Kingdom which collected the stories of BIPOC volunteers and compared them to the experiences of white volunteers. Black, Indigenous and People of Colour volunteers described environments where they felt they had to go over and above to prove their value, battle to make their voices heard, spend extra time and energy to fit in, experience consistent invoking of racial stereotypes and microaggressions. A black woman described her experience of volunteering - "it hurts, it hurts all the time" (Dr. Timbrell)
Maybe this felt like a lot, maybe you are currently composing an email to tell us exactly why we are way off base, maybe you are feeling defensive of yourself or your organizations. That is ok. Centre the voices of people in your organization who are underrepresented, do what they recommend, circle back to check to see what still needs to be done. There is not a checklist for solutions, a certification for completion and perfection is not possible so just start doing something.
Inspiration and information for this piece was taken from the below people and spaces:
Great news!!! We are very proud to introduce Virtual Volunteer Centres! These are designed for communities across the country that do not have a physical centre for volunteer engagement but see the benefits of democratizing the volunteer experience. This is a free solution for people who are about thriving communities, organizations, and citizens.
Perhaps you are the mayor, reeve, or council person in your town, or you are the person who plans special events, or you are just the person who knows what is going on! We have created a toolkit to help your community benefit from the connector.
As a Virtual Volunteer Centre your community will have access to live data about volunteerism in your community, be able to report on the value of volunteerism, shape the future of digital volunteerism and best of all make the experience of organizing volunteers a pleasurable and supported one!
If you are wondering if this is you or you know for sure and you want to get started, just get in touch! info@volunteerconnector.org
My name is Michael Slattery, I am an Edmontonian Freelance Photographer. A while back I was watching Tim Ferriss on YouTube. Tim considers himself a human experiment. He tries to master life and documents the results online. In Fast Inc.'s article, "How to Be the Ultimate Networker, According to Tim Ferriss."
Tim shares an unusual strategy to find work. Of course when looking for work continue to refine your resume, cover letter and apply. But there might be other strategies to finding work.
If you are looking for work have you considered volunteering?
If you are an artist looking for work, all the more reasons to volunteer, I'll explain below.
Here are 7 reasons to consider volunteering:
I would like to thank the work VolunteerConnector does promoting volunteering! Their services have opened up a door for me to volunteer and grow my skills!
Thank you,
Michael Slattery
Last June we posted an awesome blog stating our allyship with Black Lives Matter. It contained a bunch of resources, a statement on our striving to be anti-racist and links for furthering learning. If you missed it or want to review it again, it is here. It is one of our most viewed blogs posts.
This blog, nine months later, is just a friendly reminder to keep trying. Keep speaking up, keep listening to and centring BIPOC voices. Keep feeling uncomfortable and interrogating biases and beliefs. Continue to engage in activism, marches and calls to action, follow people on social media who are doing the work and support black owned businesses.
Anti-racism is lifelong work, keep trying.
