Early in 2021, almost a year into the pandemic, I was hearing a lot about the challenges faced by local not-for-profit charitable organizations and programs. The spread of COVID-19 wreaked havoc on our shelters, clinics, food banks, and halfway houses, but not for entirely obvious reasons.
Yes, there is a huge risk of transmission in congregate settings where vulnerable individuals are housed. However, while organizations were busy implementing prevention and control safeguards, the rest of us were being told to stay home, maintain a safe distance, and avoid visiting places where others could be put at risk.
As a result, the number of volunteers dwindled precipitously.
You can read more about the pandemicβs impact on volunteering, here: The pandemic drove many volunteers away. Now they’re reluctant to come back (CBC News, October 31, 2022)
At the time, it made perfect moral and rational sense to step up and fill the gap. Afterall, I had few obligations and demands on my time, so I baked bread, did some yoga, and started volunteering on a weekly basis at the Ottawa Mission kitchen. Now, I’m a Saturday morning regular at Chef Ricβs on Rideau street.
Over a three-hour shift, I typically prepare over 700 portions of garden salad for a single lunch delivery, and it’s honestly the best part of my week.
One thing you quickly realize when you get out into the community (especially in our cities) as a volunteer is how great the need is to feed, house, clothe, heal, and generally support people who didn’t happen to win the Ovarian Lottery.
Like many cities across Canada and the world, Ottawa is facing a perfect storm of homelessness, housing and food insecurity, mental illness, and an opioid epidemic. These challenges demand multifaceted efforts that not only pave the way for sustainable, long-term solutions, but also address IMMEDIATE concerns.
Bandaids for bullet wounds.
Weβve all been told at some point that itβs better to build a dam than to spend that energy pulling bodies from downstream floods. Perhaps. Yet, when you work and volunteer in the community these days it sometimes feels like weβve taken that metaphor to the point of inaction.
Hope weβre making progress on those dams βcause weβve got a catastrophe on our hands and not enough help to pull bodies from the flood waters!
In January 2023, the CEO for Volunteer Canada reported that “up to 65 per cent of organizations in the country are struggling with a shortage of volunteers, and up to 35 per cent of those that are have had to reduce services as a result.”
And while we debate with outrage whoβs ultimately responsible for this-and-that social ill, the role of policing, and the safety of our downtown cores, there are real opportunities out there for ordinary folks to roll up their sleaves and make a meaningful difference.
It’s my belief that we’ve become too accustomed to relying on professionals for deliverance and too comfortable with blaming government when things go south.
I propose a different mode of operation: Civic Responsibility. More specifically, giving of our time when and where it is needed, without the expectation of reward or recognition. Benevolence in volunteering for the Greater Good.
If we don’t step up to volunteer when the needs are great, then we shouldn’t balk when the government announces more spending and higher taxation. Public services reliant on the full-time hours of skilled professionals are expensive, concentrated in urban centres, and in high demand.
Not to mention, working 40 to 60 hour shifts delivering services to those struggling with addiction, mental illness, and instability can take its toll.
Volunteers act as a pressure valve for the system when demand is high and resources are stretched. The presence of volunteers can inject heavy spaces with a certain lightness, as volunteers present with a willing spirit and unburdened heart.
The solution to our social ills isn’t volunteering, but it will certainly help and there are few barriers to entry.
You donβt need to come up with new initiatives or innovate some hip social enterprise with diversified revenue streams. There are plenty of capable organizations already set up and equipped with decades of corporate experienceβ¦they just need more warm bodies to make beds, dish meals, clean, cook, mentor, support, plant, pull/push, pick-up, receive, deliver, report, observe, organize, supervise, tutor, paint, build, write, read, plan, design, account, befriend, host, and numerous other tasks requiring urgent attention.
You can still tinker with those damn dams if you like. Jumped the “Effective Altruism” bandwagon? No problem, keep doing that. Already knee deep in the Freirean effort to conscientize your community? That’s great! I’m sure that tiny group of collaborators you’ve gathered for weekly study groups will reach the mountaintop some day, so keep that idealistic fervour alive!
But also get out there and volunteer.
Can’t find the time? If you’re still reading this, my guess is that you likely do have the time. No need to find it. Just 3-hours a week or the equivalent of:
- Two to three Netflix episodes of your favourite show.
- Three hours LESS per week of raising awareness on social media.
Make it a group activity. Volunteer to scratch that itch and do something youβre passionate about. I get to cook in a professional kitchen!
Volunteering is not only for able-bodied extroverts. I’m definitely a pathological introvert. Nobody in a kitchen needs you to socialize while chopping carrots. And I’ve encountered plenty of folks with disabilities doing great work in the community.
I challenge you to contact your local non-profit tonight to get the ball rolling. Theyβll be happy to have you or to point you in the right direction.
If you live in Canada, I suggest that you visit Volunteer Canada to get started. They’ve made it easy to identify needs in your local area through this page: I want to Volunteer.
If you’re in Ottawa, here are a few organizations worth reaching out to:
Hope to see you out thereβ¦
A Working Draft by E. E. Talisman 
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