Volunteer Week: Tri-City teens have their say about volunteering during their high school years

Community Volunteer Connections (CVC) works to connect Tri-City volunteers with not-for-profits that rely on volunteers. 

And of the 500 volunteers that CVC works with, 150 volunteers are students between the ages of 15 and 18.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on student volunteering, and as the number of students seeking volunteer opportunities grew over the last year, CVC saw a need to do a feasibility study. 

The study helped to understand the needs of youth volunteers.

In B.C., high school students are required to have 30 hours of volunteer work to graduate.

CVC asked them

• what volunteer experiences are important to them 
• what their preferences are for volunteering
• what skills would they like to develop through their volunteer experience

Conducted between Oct. 20 and Dec. 3, 2021, the survey gained responses from 107 students in School District 43 — most of them living in Coquitlam.

Here’s a summary of the results:

1. Have you volunteered before?

• 79% Yes 
• 21%  No 

2. What benefits do you want to gain from volunteering?

• 69% To connect with people
• 66% To gain confidence in job skills
• 62% To gain confidence in social skills
• 57% To contribute to a cause I believe in

3. When are you available to volunteer during the year?

The students’ responses were evenly distributed across most months during the year except for a slight decrease in April, August, September and October.

• 20% of students selected they could volunteer only during school holidays.

4. When are you available to volunteer during the day?

The responses showed clearly that students prefer to volunteer during weekends (86%) and after school (78%). Students were least likely to want to volunteer during the evenings (33%).

5. How do you prefer to volunteer?

Given six preferences, students wanted to volunteer with friends, as well as to ‘no preference’ as their main choices. At just 1%, students were least likely to want to volunteer with family.

6. What skills would you like to develop over the next two years?

• 77% Leadership
• 73% Teamwork
• 73% Working with the public
• 15% digital arts skills
• 13% social media skills

Carey LePage, CVC’s coordinator of volunteer resources, said the survey took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, when social restrictions were in place.

CAN YOU HELP?

Tri-City residents ages 19 and up are invited to the Volunteer Job Fair, hosted by the Community Volunteer Connections and the Coquitlam Public Library. Organizers will be at the City Centre branch of the library (1169 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to “recruit” volunteers for upcoming events and activities. The fair coincides with National Volunteer Week. No registration is required. Visit volunteerconnections.ca.http://volunteerconnections.ca