VOICES UNITE CALGARY
World Choir Games Host City Bid
A City of Volunteers
The city of Calgary has a long history of volunteering, as a prairie settlement, volunteering was literally a matter of survival for the European settlers who came with dreams of settling the west. The spirit of community was evident in the lives of these early homesteaders as they quickly formed tight niches amongst each other. For those early settlers, volunteering was as simple as helping a neighbor build a house to donating food or supplies to those settlers that were struggling and as the community grew so did the spirit of Volunteering i.e. traditional barn raising events, church socials, volunteer fire brigades etc.
Since the early settlers, Calgary has grown to become a vibrant cosmopolitan city of over one million and the spirit of volunteering is becoming prominent due to the spirit and hospitality of Calgarians.
In June of 2013 Calgary was hit by a devastating flood that saw many people forced out of their homes and countless dollars in damage. Officials with the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) made a request for volunteers to help in the recovery efforts. They expected at most 500. They got more than they could have imagine.
Early that Monday morning, word of the event went out over social media and by 10 a.m. roughly 3,000 people had shown up at McMahon Stadium, many of them in rubber boots, wanting to be dispatched to one of a dozen flood-ravaged communities.
This gives you an idea about the spirit of community and volunteerism in this city. Not only did Calgarians rise to the occasion here in their own city but our generosity and helpful nature spread to neigbouring communities such as High River and Canmore, Alberta which were also affected by the floods of 2013.
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Calgary has among the most volunteers per capita of any Canadian city.
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71% of Calgarians Volunteer on average 15 hours per month. A 20% higher increment than the Provincial average
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Each year the Calgary Stampede sees over 2300 Volunteers help to ensure the events ongoing success.
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Over 5,000 non-profit organizations exist in the Calgary area, most of which use volunteers
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63% of volunteers in Calgary are female, 37% are over the age of 55, 46% are married, and 62% have a post-secondary degree
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65% of volunteers in Calgary are involved with activities surrounding youth and children, but many are also active with sports and recreation (44%), social services (42%), education/research (41%) and faith/religion (36%)
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76% of volunteers in Calgary are driven by a desire to give back to their community, by an appreciation of volunteering as something of value for the social good, and the belief that volunteering helps volunteers feel good about themselves.
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71% of Calgarians aged 12–18 have volunteered in the past year
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63% of young volunteers are inspired by family members who also volunteer