Friday, June 27, 2003
Seniors make up backbone of the volunteer sector
Nearly 75 per cent of the total number of volunteer hours in Canada were performed by less than 10 per cent of the Canadian population.
Volunteering... A Booming Trend -- a study done in 2000 by Volunteer Canada, the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, states that 35 per cent of Canadians who volunteer are between the ages of 45-54, 30 per cent are between the ages of 55-64 and 23 per cent is over 65.
“There’s a small percentage of people who are doing a tremendous amount of work and the population of volunteers is very much older than the general population,” said Rowe.
“Volunteers with a religious affiliation gave more time on average than did those without one,” found a survey done by Statistics Canada in 2000.
The National Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP) found those with religious affiliation donated about 168 volunteer hours a year versus 149 from those without one.
Rowe said a lot of seniors have a strong background in religion, which might spur them on to get out and give back to the community.
“A lot of them have a strong belief system around religion and spirituality and it’s part of that belief system that makes them go out and help others,” said Rowe.
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