This year, Pillar Nonprofit Network is taking the opportunity of National Volunteer Week, April 14-20, to remind the network and the community that greater than half of all nonprofits are entirely volunteer-run and to express gratitude to the thousands of volunteers who make sure these organizations continue to serve their communities.
Pillar issued a media release Wednesday, April 17, highlighting the work of cotenant nonprofit City Art Centre and pointing to a profile of Coordinator and Board Chair Diana Hodgson published in the National Volunteer Week e-zine curated by the London and Area Association for Volunteer Administration (LAVA), with whom Pillar has long collaborated to promote volunteerism in the region.
LONDON, Ontario, April 17, 2024 – From April 14 to 20, Pillar Nonprofit Network joins organizations across Canada in recognizing our volunteers and joins with volunteer administrators, volunteer centres, and advocates in encouraging Londoners and Canadians to seek the personal and community benefits of volunteering.
This year, Pillar is shining a light especially on those people who dedicate time and talent to volunteer-only organizations, those without staff to throw a gala recognition or hand out thank you gifts. According to recent data released by Statistics Canada, greater than half (54%) of Canadian nonprofit organizations rely entirely on volunteers. City Art Centre in London, for example, is overseen by a board of directors and managed by volunteer coordinators who open and close the studio, answer the phone, conduct tours, greet potential members, put coffee on, and provide members and visitors free art supplies to attend to their mental wellness through artistic expression.
The small nonprofit organization began in 1992, when a group of people with lived experience in mental health services identified a need for a safe place to express themselves through art. They created City Art Centre to provide that safe place, free art supplies, and peer support for adults who face mental health challenges. Recently, the studio moved from the City-owned T-Block near McMahen Park to Innovation Works, Pillar Nonprofit Network’s social purpose coworking space, where they interact and collaborate with other tenants.
The theme for National Volunteer Week in 2024 is “Every Moment Matters.” In an age of increasing loneliness and social isolation, it’s not hard to imagine the profound impact of every gesture or word offered by our region’s volunteers, whether it’s the chit-chat that comes with a delivered meal, the mentoring offered in a youth sports league, or the profound connection to nature and community that comes with a riverbank cleanup.
For Diana Hodgson, one of four coordinators at City Art Centre, the moment that mattered was her very first visit to the studio and the instant sense of belonging she felt: “That was it,” she says, “It had me.” Coming to the drop-in art studio and gallery to work through her grief after a series of difficult losses, she “got so much help, it's like, wow! I need to be here! People have a need, and there’s just not enough volunteers.”
Pillar members were treated to a recognition of City Art Centre when they gathered today for Pillar’s Annual General Meeting, and Pillar has profiled Diana’s volunteer work in the National Volunteer Week e-zine published annually by the London and Area Association for Volunteer Administration (LAVA), with whom Pillar has long collaborated to promote volunteerism in the region.
Each year since pandemic measures made in person recognition events difficult, LAVA’s volunteer board has collected and published stories “to celebrate individuals and groups who strengthen our communities in London, Middlesex and surrounding areas.” You can read more about Diana Hodgson, City Art Centre, and many more of the areas’s volunteers on the LAVA website, londonava.wordpress.com.
For Pillar CEO Maureen Cassidy, the volunteers of City Art Centre and other volunteer-run organizations are critical. “Volunteer-only organizations only survive because of someone’s dedication or many people’s dedication, and the community would be the less for it. I can’t think of any better demonstration that ‘every moment matters’ and any better reason to show our appreciation for people who simply insist on showing up for their own good and the good of their communities.”
Volunteering in Canada - Fast facts
- The volunteering ecosystem has undergone significant disruption during the pandemic, accelerating a shift from formal, in person, organization-based volunteering to other models of virtual volunteering, mutual aid, and micro-volunteering.
- In 2018, 79% of Canadians aged at least 15 years took part in some form of volunteer work.
- Canadians volunteered approximately 2.5 billion hours in total in 2018.
- Among formal volunteers, hospital work had the highest number of volunteer hours.
- The economic value of the skills and time provided by volunteers in Canada is often referred to as ”volunteer dollars.” In 2018, voluntary work in Canada was worth approximately $55 billion.
Volunteer Resources
- Find a volunteer position on Pillar’s Volunteer Opportunities Board: [https://pillarnonprofit.ca/volunteer]
- Webinar and virtual panel: Engaging Youth Volunteers: Why it’s Critical and How to Do it Well 2024 (Pillar), Tuesday, April 23, 9:30am-12:00pm EDT [https://pillarnonprofit.ca/event/engaging-youth-volunteers-why-its-criti...
- LAVA E-Zine 2024 [https://londonava.wordpress.com/celebrating-our-volunteers/]