New Brunswick groups push for more volunteers

MONCTON – Some New Brunswick groups are hoping National Volunteer Week reminds people how important it is to help others.

April 6-12 is National Volunteer Week and Volunteer Canada is encouraging people to thank volunteers, like Steve Mullins.

Mullins has packed boxes and sorted food at the Open Hands Food Bank in Moncton for years. He says volunteers are a dying breed.

“There just doesn’t seem to be as many volunteers as there used to be and the ones we do have they’re getting older,” he said.

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A lack of volunteers has meant one group has had to cancel a 50-year-old tradition. The Canadian Federation of University Women is cancelling their annual book fair. The money raised went to scholarships and bursaries, but this year, they couldn’t get a suitable location and help was hard to find.

“People are working so hard they don’t have time to commit to things like this,” said Federation spokeswoman Roberta Pollock. “I mean this book fair started when not so many women were working. They were housewives, they supported their husbands. But they did fundraising and volunteering outside of that.”

The executive director of the Volunteer Centre of Southeastern New Brunswick says there are lots of people willing to help.
But Annette Vautor says they need to know where they can give their time first.

“I just think people need to be painted pictures of how they can give back to their community,” she said “Or we encourage them to create ways they can help out in their community.”