Groups in St. Albert work together to attract more volunteers

Are there enough volunteers in St. Albert?

In a couple of words: Not really.

According to the United Nations 2022 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report, about 15 per cent of the global population 15 years or older, around 862 million people, volunteer each month.

Parents are tied up at sports games and other activities, or with aging parents. Grandparents are tied up with the grandkids. The kids are tied up at extra-curriculars, and there are still only 24 hours in the day.

This is what many of the service groups that interface with the city’s Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) division are faced with, according to senior manager Connie Smigielski, who presented their new Social Services Roadmap at the first Standing Committee of the Whole meeting of the fall Tuesday morning, Sept. 10.

City councillors heard a 27-member St. Albert & Area Volunteer Manager's Group meets every other month, and that a list of volunteer opportunities is on the city’s website.

“Identifying how we can collectively … support some of our agencies” is a topic of discussion at those meetings, Smigielski said. “Is it something on the website? Is it a collective social media presence? How can the agencies, the social profits work together do that to raise that awareness?”

So far, 22 organizations have registered to attend a volunteer fair planned for Oct. 6, a Sunday, at St. Albert Place. There’s still time for groups to join, provided they “offer sport, recreation, wellness, culture, or art and heritage programs or services to the residents of St. Albert.”

Groups from outside the city are welcome provided they don’t offer a duplicate service available from a local provider. Religious groups can register if they provide a service mentioned above and refrain from recruiting to the church. Political parties and businesses are verboden.

Coun. Sheena Hughes asked when she would see a report that outlines successes, versus documenting challenges. It may take some patience.

Smigielski said even prior to the pandemic, the places, times and ways in which people were volunteering were changing.

“I think three to five years from now, we may see that needle move, because we only really post-Covid have been able to start to make some changes and look at volunteerism differently and see what those new needs are.”

Coun. Wes Brodhead said he believes there are also just more volunteer opportunities out there.

“I’m not sure we should beat ourselves up over that,” he said. “That’s still thousands of volunteers in St. Albert alone (and) I just don’t want to lose that perspective.”