families are recognizing such benefits.
Statistics Canada says from 2004 to
2007 the average hours volunteered
by households with only school-age
children jumped 16 per cent.
chRIsTIANs:
suPeR voluNTeeRs
Perhaps it’s no surprise but statistics
show conservative Protestant adults
are right in the thick of volunteering.
Evangelicals who attend religious
services weekly are twice as likely to
volunteer as the average Canadian and
to complete 40 per cent more volunteer
hours, according to a recent study by
Rick Hiemstra, director of the Centre
for Research on Canadian Evangelicalism, an initiative of The Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada.
We’re not doing it only at church. In
another study, Kurt Bowen notes 79 per
cent of religiously active volunteers are
involved in secular agencies.
It’s a good news story for Christians
in Canadian society. So why not leave
it mostly to the adults?
pHo To: CoURTes Y oF THe mUs TaRd seed
The hard reality is that churches
are struggling to retain their youth. For
children who grew up in the church,
up to 90 per cent may stop attending
by their 20s.
pHo To CRedi T: daRLene BURns pHo To CRedi T: ka THRYn gRa Y
Clockwise from top: in kenya, kathryn gray’s children visit a school for children
with hearing impairment; Beth Hayhoe's daughters enjoy reading with another
child during a recent visit to the nursery at the evergreen Centre for street
Youth, part of Toronto’s Yonge street mission; a young volunteer helps with
meal preparation at The mustard seed mission in Calgary.
“The stats are pretty cold and hard
in Canada,” says Shelley Campagnola,
chair of the Children’s Ministry Part-
nership, a network supported by The
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
But one of the best answers to this
• Helpful Volunteer Calgary newsletter on family volunteering:
www.volunteercalgary.ab.ca (click news > VCC newsletter > Fall 2007)
• Comprehensive reading list from the U.S.-based organization Doing Good Together:
www.doinggoodtogether.org/books.html
• A manual for organizations: Volunteer Connections: Family Volunteering – Making It Official, Volunteer Canada, 2004: www.volunteer.ca/volunteer/pdf/FamVoleng.pdf
• Insights gained from a major survey: Family Volunteering: The Final Report, Volunteer
Canada, 2003: www.volunteer.ca/volunteer/pdf/fvfr_eng.pdf
• Family Volunteering: The Ties That Bind. An Introduction to Preparing Your Agency
for Family Volunteers, department of Canadian Heritage, by kristen porritt,
1995: http://library.nald.ca/research/item/119
• The Temple and the Tavern: A Case Study of Family Volunteering at Santropol
Roulant, imagine Canada, 2007: www.santropolroulant.org (click newsletters
and scroll down) –CJC
problem seems to be actively engaging youth – including family volunteering.
But, Campagnola warns, to make
a difference parents have to start early,
when their children are young.
INfoRmAl mAY be bes T
Where can families volunteer? In
Canada, 60 per cent of non-profit organizations have family volunteers. So
basically almost everywhere.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Only
15 per cent of Canada’s non-profits report having programs geared to family
volunteering.
Why so few? For starters, half of
Canada’s 160,000 non-profits have no
paid staff, according to Jung-Suk Ryu,
