Blog  October 4, 2011

Volunteering: More than meets the eye

For non-profits, numbers mean a lot. Financially, they form budgets, shape decisions, and can affect which projects get done, or which ones get scrapped.

But the most important number for us is more than a line item: It’s the huge number of volunteers who allow us to go beyond budgetary constraints, and effect real change in our communities.

According to a 2004 Statistics Canada report, over 40 per cent of charities operate with no paid staff, and 37 per cent have only one to five employees. These charities, from the grassroots to the international, rely on more than 12.5 million volunteers who have given 2.1 billion hours of their time to charitable organizations, reports the 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating.

For Evergreen, the impact of more than 4,000 volunteers can be seen in over 13,000 wildflowers, and 15,000 trees and shrubs planted across Canada, in 2010 alone.

“Volunteers are like sunshine at Evergreen. Without them, nothing would grow,” says Becky Lamb, coordinator of the volunteer program at Evergreen Brick Works. “Every day, our volunteers welcome thousands of visitors to the Brick Works and help make our weekly farmers’ market, festivals, events and children’s educational programs run smoothly.”

But what’s in it for the volunteer?

“The face of volunteerism is changing and is no longer a one-way relationship,” explains Christine Martin, manager of volunteer development at Evergreen. “We always take into account the goals of the volunteer, and try and match up each person with the perfect opportunity, while at the same time, meeting the needs of our programs.”

From leading site tours and running summer day camps, to conducting research and attending community gardening events, Evergreen has over 50 different volunteer opportunities to match up with the skills and interests of eager individuals.

Volunteer Dana McDonald, who has developed many of the programs for Evergreen BC, from urban greening to writing stewardship and restoration grants, finds the most rewarding thing about volunteering to be the chance to do something meaningful.

“Our work really hits the nail on the head,” Dana says. “All the projects we do have meaning, make a difference in the community, and are directly beneficial to the environment, whether through growing local food, planting trees or restoring ecosystems.”

Evergreen volunteers not only connect with their community and nature, but are able to gain hands-on experience in a particluar field of interest, gain new skills, improve existing ones, and are able to share that knowledge with others. In turn, they inspire and engage others to be stewards of their own environment, and truly become the “root of change.”

For more information on how you can get involved, visit our website. And check out the photo gallery below to see some of our volunteers in action!