Volunteers adapt to new-age trends

St John’s College Woodlawn students who are volunteering their time to assist in the community are (from left) Jacob Ludwig, 17, Courtney Macdade, 16, and Keani Bryant, 16.

MORE young people are volunteering and more want to do it online, a new study has found.

The report, which forms part of the Federal Government’s new national volunteering strategy, identified an increasing demand for short-term and project-based volunteering and found that highly-skilled, early-retiring baby boomers are also keen to give back to the community.

St John’s College Woodlawn students Courtney Macdade, 16, Keani Bryant, 16, and Jacob Ludwig, 17, are all heavily involved in volunteering projects.

However, they agree the internet has expanded their opportunities to contribute, rather than foster the isolation and disconnection that older generations fear and media typecasting perpetuates.

“We’re communicating a lot more through computers and mobile phones – in fact, through the technology, it makes you more outgoing,” Jacob said.

“Some people don’t see change as a good thing, but change isn’t always bad – members of our generation who want to make a change are making changes for the better.”

“These are just more innovative ways to get involved,” Courtney agreed.

“We’re often seen as separating ourselves from society, but we’re not. We bring ourselves into society through helpingpeople – and we get more out of it than we put into it.

“Everyone can feel isolated. Jacob and I are from Kyogle and we feel isolated sometimes … but we feel we belong here at the school so we want to share that.”

Keani cut her teeth volunteering at the Lismore Soup Kitchen, but now has a passion forsocial justice and channels her efforts into a Cambodian project to train disabled people so they can make a living.

“Social justice was always something I wanted to do, but until I did it I didn’t realise how we’re actually helping people – it’s a really great feeling,” she said.

The study polled more than 800 volunteer groups and found that while traditional forms of volunteering remained popular, to remain effective the sector needed to accommodate the emerging trends.

Federal Minister for SocialInclusion and Human Services, Tanya Plibersek, said it was important that volunteer organisations were able to adapt so they could continue to recruit and retain volunteers.

Regardless of the means and methods, young people are volunteering for the same reasons their parents and grand-parents did.

“Volunteering definitely gives you a sense of fulfilment; you feel more like you’re a part of the community,” Courtney said.

“Yeah, you get a big sense of satisfaction (and) at the end of the day you can look back on what you’ve done and it’ll bring a smile to your face – it makes you feel fantastic,” Jacob added.

“Mahatma Gandhi said ‘an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’, but a smile for a smile makes the whole world happy.”