Whatever your stage of life, volunteering provides proven benefits. Youth can benefit by exploring their careers interests, developing their resume and gaining self-confidence in a workplace setting. Newcomers can gain Canadian work experience. Employers benefit when their employees participate in team-building community service days or through leadership development gained when employees provide pro-bono support to a community organization. Retirees also experience tremendous health benefits through volunteering. They can stay physically, mentally and socially active, while having an impact on the causes that matter to them and exploring new opportunities that might not have fit with their chosen career.

However, it's important to recognize that volunteering also has a broader impact on the community. Volunteering is key to building social capital, which is “the network of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society or community, enabling that society to function effectively.”

How do volunteers do that? In several ways including:

1. Through community-building and organizing service and support when needed

2. Through building relationships, networks and bonds with a variety of people and bridging between communities.

Margaret Wheatly once said, “There is no power greater for change than a community discovering what it cares about.” The more we feel a sense of belonging by volunteering, the more we create a sense of community and belonging for others. Our communities become safer and more welcoming, which benefits all of us.

The theme for National Volunteer Week 2023 (April 16 - 22) is “Volunteering Weaves us Together”, which celebrates our individual and collective actions in creating a strong, interconnected and vibrant community. We strengthen the fabric of our community by sharing our time, talent and energy to support one another.

Right now, the organizations in our community that provide so much support are in need of your energy and expertise. A report released by Statistics Canada in 2022 found that 65% of non profit organizations are having difficulty recruiting volunteers. Moreover, both paid and volunteer labour supplies have been disrupted by the pandemic according to a 2021 report published by Imagine Canada. At the same time, the demands on charitable organizations have only increased. If you are ready to engage or reengage with your community organizations, they will certainly welcome you with open arms.

So how do you begin your search for volunteer opportunities? Volunteer Success is a registered Canadian charity that offers an online hub for organizations and volunteers of all ages and levels of expertise. We have hundreds of organizations posting opportunities on our website. Check out the opportunities page and register yourself to get notified of new opportunities when they get listed. You can even follow your favourite organizations so that you get an alert when they post something new.

Need more ideas? Check out this article about finding opportunities online.

Make 2023 the year you get involved or re-involved and help make your community a better place to live!