Alberta’s volunteerism traced way back to early settlement

EDMONTON, AB, July 30, 2008/Troy Media/ -- Summer in Alberta is filled with fun, sun and festivals and it’s not hard to turn and find someone wearing a white t-shirt that has Volunteer prominently emblazoned across the back.

However, volunteerism is not a recent phenomenon. In fact, its roots date back to before 1905, when Alberta became of province. And while the face of volunteerism may have changed over the years, it is still an integral part of our society, still helping shape Alberta’s socio-economic landscape.

According to Albertasource.ca - the Alberta Online Encyclopedia - volunteerism was born out of an Aboriginal tradition of community, in which survival depended on members of the community helping one another - a key component of Aboriginal Cultural Values.

Aboriginals extended these acts of charity to early European settlers. Like fish out of water, the newcomers to Canada were unfamiliar with the hazards of the rugged Canadian wilderness and desperate to manage the bitter cold winters to which we have now become accustomed. And despite some of Hollywood’s depictions of the old west in films, many of the Aboriginal peoples offered their time, knowledge and resources to help many struggling settlers survive.

As fur trade posts and settlements developed, the Europeans responded with a charity of their own and, when the need arose, reciprocated, giving aid in the form of food and shelter to the Aboriginal people they traded with. Missionaries, although focused on spreading Christianity, also helped establish hospitals, schools and orphanages.

During the first 20 years or so of the 20^th century, that is, during the province’s formative years, volunteerism’s focus shifted from simple survival and towards community building. AlbertaSource.ca points out that, in the province’s early days, the majority of the population shared a common language (English), ancestry, values and, often, the Protestant faith. These strong bonds led to the emergence of volunteer organizations such as The Masonic Lodge and the Canadian Order of Foresters. In fact, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) began in Calgary in 1902 as a place where men could explore their spirituality and pursue recreational activities. Women’s volunteer groups focused on reform and education. The Young Women’s Christian Association(YWCA), for example, opened in 1910 to provide travel aid to women. Between 1926 and 1930, ethnic community groups began to emerge after an estimated 30,000 non English-speaking immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe decided to make western Canada their home.

Volunteerism expanded its range beyond the provincial and national borders during World War I, with local groups like the Red Cross and The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, helping church groups raise funds and supplies for the troops overseas. Alberta, in fact, had one of the highest enlistment rates in Canada.

Once the war ended, volunteerism refocused again, to represent an outward expression of Alberta’s values. For example, Louise McKinney, one of The Famous Five, brought the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to Alberta. This led to the suffragette movement that would eventually lead to women’s right to vote.

During the drought of the 1920s and the Dirty Thirties, volunteerism changed its face again, turning to activities that diverted people from the harsh times in which they were living. Groups like the Rotary Club and Boy Scouts of Canada provided summer camps for underprivileged boys. The YWCA provided job training for unemployed women and girls, while the YMCA offered wrestling classes to unemployed men. Even the Calgary Herald chipped in by sponsoring a toyshop operated by the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.

With World War II, a large number of Alberta women volunteers formally enlisted in divisions of the armed forces, including the Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC), and the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS). Locally, volunteer groups rallied to save stamps, sell war bonds, collect paper and scrap metal.

After the war, and with the discovery of oil at Leduc #1, economic prosperity returned, which helped revitalize community organizations. The end of the war, unfortunately, also brought on a new set of challenges and the need for a new type of volunteer – for support crisis agencies dealing with substance abuse, suicide and loneliness. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Organizations, such as the Calgary Stampede Board, also emerged, along with groups which supported sporting events such as the 1978 Commonwealth Games, cultural groups like AMPIA (Alberta Motion Pictures Industries Association) and the Writers Guild, and the Heritage Festival, which began in 1974 to celebrate our ethno-cultural background and which relies on over 6,000 volunteers each year.

According to Alberta Culture and Community Spirit Ministry, the voluntary sector in Alberta consists of more than 19,000 charities and non-profit organizations. Volunteers can be found in sports, recreation, arts, culture, health care, social services, faith and education. Volunteerism can take on many forms, from raising money for a cure for cancer, to managing a crew to fight forest fires, and even operating a zoo.

It’s also become part of our corporate culture: companies are encouraging volunteerism among their employers and prominent Albertans, like the late Lieutenant-Governor Lois Hole, are embracing its benefits for society.

According to the 2004 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP), roughly 1.2 million Albertans (48%) of the population volunteered 214 million hours to charitable and nonprofit organizations, or the equivalent to more than 111,000 full time jobs,
Volunteerism has evolved over the last 100 years. It has shaped our community and will continue to do so. What hasn’t changed is the underlying thread- that people are willing to donate their time, their services and even their own money to help others for a good cause.
To commemorate the centennial of Alberta Volunteerism, in 2005 The Heritage Community Foundation, added Volunteerism in Alberta – 100 Years of Celebrating Community to the Alberta On-Line Encyclopedia.

For more information on volunteerism in Alberta, visit albertasource.ca. AlbertaSource.ca - the Alberta Online Encyclopedia - is the main portal for 75 websites, more than 27,000 html/PHP pages, over 75,000 images, over 4,000 audio files and over 2,000 video files, and all are fully searchable. The site was created by Heritage Community Foundation, as part of a legacy project to celebrate Alberta’s Centennial in 2005. In 2007 AlbertaSource.ca had just over 1.5 million unique visitors and just under 4 million site visits.

Keywords: Alberta volunteerism, roots of volunteerism, volunteerism at the turn of the century

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