More people volunteering locally over summer vacation
Posted July 19, 2012 8:25 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A lot of people will spend the next few weeks going on road trips or jetting off to somewhere halfway around the world. However, a growing number of people are spending their summer holidays giving back to the community.
Many like to use this time to take part in volunteering at seasonal festivals and other special events.
“There are a number of people who will book vacation time in order to do a lot of the kinds of different options during the Summer Games, as it was during the [Winter] Olympics,” explains Collen Kelly with Vantage Point, the group organizing a volunteering website in Metro Vancouver.
She says a recent survey found half of British Columbians volunteer throughout the year, with spikes seen at Christmas and often during the summer months. Most of those volunteers are students.
“Fifty-eight point eight per cent of 15 to 24-year-olds actually volunteer, and I’m guessing a lot of that happens in the summer for that particular age group,” notes Kelly.
In the past, people thought it was their civic duty to be philanthropic, but more people now do it to learn new things, meet new people, and make a contribution.
There are a variety of positions for every skill set ranging from communications specialist to more hands on labour. Click here for more information about volunteer work.
