If you’re new to Haliburton County – recently retired but now looking for something meaningful to do with your free time – you might want to plug May 1 into your calendar.
The Haliburton Highlands Volunteer Coalition is holding a volunteer engagement fair at the Minden Community Centre from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Brigitte Gebauer, volunteer coordinator for HHHS, is coalition lead. It’s made up of people from a variety of organizations that rely on volunteers.
The event comes on the heels of National Volunteer Week and Gebauer said they wanted to capitalize on the momentum by holding the fair about six weeks earlier this year.
Gebauer said there continues to be a dearth of volunteers, a trend that started before COVID and has continued. She added it isn’t just in Haliburton County.
“Volunteer Canada is trying to spark a national strategy around volunteering. Australia just put a 10-year plan into place and Ireland put a five-year plan into place a couple of years ago. So, on a national level, the rates are significantly down on volunteering.”
She said stats have been declining in the last 10 years. “So, there’s a significant pressure on all of the organizations that utilize volunteers and I think nationally, we’re starting to recognize that, and that’s the basis of forming this coalition as well… to try to bring the visibility up and to put some energy behind creating a countywide strategy around volunteering.”
She noted the County of Haliburton and HCDC are financially contributing to the May 1 event, and Mulligans is donating refreshments. She said there would be approximately 30 employers on hand.
Gebauer said a lack of volunteers greatly impacts the community. At HHHS, for example, she said they don’t have enough helpers for long-term care or to do friendly visiting in the community. She added they are down on community drivers, having to tell people who have out-of-town medical appointments they cannot always take them. “That’s really tough.”
However, the coalition hopes to capitalize on new Highlanders.
“I think, collectively, the group is thinking ‘we’ve got this crop of new folks in the area. Often, it takes a year or two to settle in. And then, all of a sudden you start looking around, asking ‘what can I do and how do I keep myself busy?’ Those are the folks that we’re hoping show up.”
She added, “this County runs on volunteers. It’s the backbone of the County.”
If interested in a booth, contact Gebauer 705-457-1392 ext. 2927 or bgebauer@hhhs.ca or Andrea Mueller 705-457-1740 ext. 635 or amueller@dysartetal.ca.
