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Uncommonly generous
Among the rewards of doing this job over the past 14 years has been the opportunity to meet and get to know some of the many interesting, talented and able folks who live in this community—some of whom have lived here all their lives, others who grew up here and came back, and still others who settled here seeking sanctuary from the noise and pace of the world beyond these shores.
A decade and a half after arriving in the County I remain grateful for the opportunity to have raised my children amid the natural beauty, rural heritage and rich sense of community that exists so purely—so viscerally— in this place.
It needn’t stay this way. Complacency is a persistent risk. Allowed to fester, complacency can calcify into indifference; the sense that what we do, or don’t do, won’t change anything. The result is that the fabric of this community gets a little tattered on the edges—a bit more fragile.
This is because the volunteers who make things happen in the County are getting tired. Tired of the mounting bureaucracy and restrictions that flow from Shire Hall, driven more by liability exposure than impact on community. Tired, because as a community we are older than most, and getting older at a faster pace. And tired, because, for some, they’ve simply done it long enough.
Sadly, too few folks are stepping forward to take their places.
I suspect that few of us would recognize our Prince Edward without the contributions, efforts and creativity of volunteers at work behind the scenes. Nearly everything we experience in terms of recreation and culture in the County is due to the work of volunteers: minor hockey, soccer, baseball, the County marathon, Wellington Women’s Half a Marathon, Kids of Steel. Consider the rich tapestry of theatre, music festivals, comedy events. The unheralded efforts to restock Lake Ontario with trout and salmon each spring.
Church suppers, trash bash, Pumpkinfest, Canada Day, fairs in Milford and Ameliasburgh, the Prince Edward Agriculture Society, craft and arts festivals and shows. Inevitably a list of volunteer- driven activities misses vast swaths of contributions— and for that I apologize.
Tonight, many in this community will gather to support the work of Glen Wallis and his rotating cast of volunteers in the Food to Share project, who work to gather produce that would otherwise be wasted—and convert it into preserves, sauces and other processed food. His group then distributes this bounty through the County foodbanks to serve those in our community who, at the end of long day of work, struggle to put a nutritious meal on the table for their family.
A couple of weeks ago the Recreation Committee in Wellington fell apart. Exhausted, the last few members resigned en masse. It isn’t just in Wellington—other Rec Committees struggle to maintain a corps of volunteers to keep their organizations running. Some have been dormant for years. But the loss of Rec Committees is a particularly sticky problem for the municipality because each organization receives a modest amount of money each year from Shire Hall to help fund its activities. In the absence of a properly formed committee, the money pools— unused.
Nor is it just Recreation Committees who struggle to recruit and retain volunteers. It is not a stretch to suggest that most, if not all, recreation and cultural groups in the County are leaning heavily on weary volunteers who continue to carry the binder simply because no one is willing to replace them. Without them, the group, event, activity or sport would disappear.
So it is with Canada Day in Wellington.
With the collapse of the Rec Committee, there is no one left to organize, manage and promote the biggest and best celebration of our nation in the region—not to mention the many other vital activities the Rec Committee provides year round.
There are no workable alternatives. The municipality doesn’t have the resources to help. Worse, any help they might provide would come encumbered with rules, limitations and constraints that would be impossible to marry with volunteer efforts.
Increasingly, trade groups are turning to hired staff to guide and promote their organizations, having exhausted their own volunteer ranks. But that just isn’t viable for many types of volunteer organizations.
Certainly, part of the current crisis is cyclical. We are all busy folks. We enjoy the community, around us. But until faced with the imminent end of something we treasure about our community, we don’t consider how we might help to keep it going.
It’s about stepping forward. Raising your hand. Giving your talents and energy to your community. If there is something you love about the County—consider lending a hand.
But its also about municipal leaders working to remove the obstacles that hobble volunteers and push them away.
It’s about recognizing that communities like ours don’t exist without volunteers. They are the essential core that binds our idea of Prince Edward County.
Can you help?
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