Latest News | March 2022

We love to see volunteerism make the news!

Take this coverage from the BBC News - Science & Environment which gives another example of the power of people when they rally around a cause. A project that was going to take a long, long time was done in just 16 days and even involved the King of England. It started as most project do, with a call for help. This one was from the UK Met Office, they had a need to take the 65,000 handwritten rainfall documents in their archives to be translated from the script of old to numbers that could be analyzed at scale. Within weeks the Rainfall Rescue was formed and thousands of volunteers from their pandemic lockdown homes got it done! The United Kingdom now has a much stronger data set and understanding of historical extremes which will help them predict future rainfall weather events.

Oh and the King? There was 10 years of data (1900-1909) from Sandringham House, so that is kind of fun?

We are starting to watch the birds here at VolunteerConnector as they return and the bulbs begin popping out of the ground. We are actively choosing hope. One of the things that gives us hope is seeing all the awesome and cool work that being done across the country. This is a cool place to share that information and maybe it will resonate with you. 

The Circle is an amazing organization which seeks to encourage brave and different thinking inside philanthropy in Canada. They have recently shared a resource I4DM (credit to The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, 2022) which contains beautiful questions to help organizations explore deeper understanding. 

If you are doing work we should hear about or want to share cool things someone else is doing get in touch!

We are pleased to see that many people have taken notice of the report, An Anti-Racist Approach to Volunteering. More people need to see it and the conversation needs to continue and grow stronger. Thanks to The Nonprofit Vote it is shared further. Look for some events coming in the future to support that continued conversation!

Thanks to our own Janet Rock for writing a blog post for The Nonprofit Vote, here is a short except:

Volunteering has a good reputation. We tell people it’s the way to gain experience and share skills. Volunteering is fundamental to what we value as a pillar of Canadian society, isn't it? It can be all of these things, but let’s face it. It’s also a colonized practice that pre-dates the formation of our country. The concept was born at the same time as volunteering for the military. This association may have thinned over time, but its direct origins in violent white supremacy should be considered when we look to understand the experiences of volunteers today. (Read full post)

This pandemic has been long, and it’s been hard on a lot of people. Do you know what brings us together as Canadians? It’s the volunteer spirit that lives in each of us! What is volunteering to Canadians?

Volunteering is about making an impact in each other’s lives. Every single day across this country. Every single time you volunteer you make a difference in someone’s life as well as your own life. By creating new connections, your heart opens toward your neighbours. 

Volunteering is about making new connections. It’s about getting out of your house and into the community. It’s about expanding your relationships. Volunteering is about finding your place with a whole new group of friends. A place to belong.

Volunteering is finding a place of belonging in a world that is often isolating. When we belong, volunteering offers us personal growth and self-worth and improved mental health. When barriers are removed our impact is true, our connections are strengthened, and we find our place to belong.