Organizations eyeing the younger generation

By Don Patterson
Staff Reporter

A professional executive coach told non-profit and community service groups they need to ask – not tell – younger generations how they want to be involved in order to get them more involved in volunteering.
“I think one of the things that is important for the younger generation is to be able to have a chance to step up,” said business coach Dawn Heartwell. “Give them the opportunity to say ‘I want to contribute here, I think I have values here, I think I have skills here.’”
Heartwell spoke in Okotoks on April 22 at the Foothills Centennial Centre for the ninth annual ATCO Gas and ATCO Electric symposium entitled The Future Today: Engaging the Next Generation. The event was hosted in Okotoks in partnership between ATCO and the Town.
Heartwell said it’s important volunteer organizations help young people learn that, by giving their time, they can get something out of it in return – even if it’s simply a sense of well-being.
She said organizations should learn from the strengths of older and younger generations.
Heartwell said not to let generational differences get in the way, adding – in some cases – attitudes will have to change.
While tattoos and facial piercings may have been frowned upon in the past, she said they are common among many young people and appearance should not determine who another person is or what they are capable of.
“If we’re only looking at the little bit we can see, like their hair colour or what they wear, or their tattoos or piercings - if we’re only going to look that deep, I’m suggesting there’s a lot more things to look at,” she said. “The younger generation is who they are. Be able to accept people rather than judge people and judge that generation.”
While the number of volunteers is down nationally, Linda Blasetti, Okotoks Family and Community Support Services team leader, said it isn’t as much of a problem in Okotoks. With Okotoks being a young community, she said there is a lot of interest from young people who want to volunteer.
“We have a pretty good volunteer spirit here,” she said.
The Town set up a volunteer services office to help coordinate efforts and direct people to volunteer opportunities. Anyone interested in volunteering is interviewed to determine their skills and interests.
“What we ask them is what are their interests, what are their skills, what would they like to get out of volunteering,” said Blasetti.
She said the office also attracts a lot of new residents looking to find a way to get involved with the community.
Blasetti said she noticed a number of new trends among volunteers.
She said busier lives have resulted in a shift in volunteering as people aren’t as likely to be volunteers with the same organization for long periods of time.
“It’s not the way it was, people don’t have time to do it,” Blasetti added.
However, she is finding more success in getting people to volunteer for shorter, set periods of time.
She also said there is an emerging trend towards towards family volunteerism.
“A lot of parents want their children to learn about volunteering,” said Blasetti. “They also want to volunteer.”
Blasetti would like to see more organizations that
require volunteers help make connections with their office.
“We need the groups out in the community letting us know how they need help, because chances are we already have someone registered in our volunteer registry ready to do that,” she said.
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Jacqui Fedor at 938-8936.