Volunteerism is declining say local non-profit organizations, and they are holding an educational and recruitment fair to attract new and experienced volunteers interested in helping in their communities.

The Owen Sound and Area Volunteer Administrators (OSAAVA) hopes Grey Bruce residents who are thinking of volunteering, but not sure what they might like to do, will drop by Monday, Oct. 24, at Harmony Centre in Owen Sound from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., to meet organization representatives and learn about volunteer opportunities across Grey and Bruce counties.

The organizations are in real need of volunteers to help provide vital programs and services in the region.

Loretta Dunn is the volunteer coordinator at VON Canada Grey-Bruce. She notes that the decline in volunteerism is a national trend affecting community support programs.

Why the big drop in volunteering? For a variety of reasons:

• The pandemic has certainly been a huge factor. 
• With many of us not being able to have volunteers back (often for years), some volunteers have “aged out”; others have health issues and/or family members with health issues who they want to keep safe and are not comfortable in group settings.
• People seem less interested in volunteering their time to organizations again for a variety of reasons: an older demographic needing to go back to work with current economy and/or too busy with caretaking of older adults and or grandchildren, wanting to travel and don’t want to be tied down to a regular commitment.

Harmony Centre is located at the corner of 9th Street East and 4th Avenue East in Owen Sound.

source: media release