Community
National Volunteer Week Feature: Central Alberta Refugee Effort Volunteer Profile
National Volunteer Week is a time to recognize, celebrate and thank Canada’s 13.3 million volunteers! Here at home, there are so many fantastic volunteers who help to build our communities by giving generously of their time & talents. This week, Todayville in partnership with Volunteer Central is profiling several incredible volunteer initiatives.
Today we’re taking a closer look at the Central Alberta Refugee Effort (C.A.R.E.) and one of it’s volunteers.
Bigazi Nsanzabera has been a volunteer with C.A.R.E. for almost 2 years. In that time, he has volunteered with the Public Awareness program at various events.
C.A.R.E. says volunteers like Bigazi are such a treasure not only for the organization, but also for the community. The organization says Bigazi is full of compassion and knowledge and that his willingness to share this knowledge with students and community members is amazing to watch. He is able to connect with the students not only in English but also in French, and of course his teaching skills come into play to deliver the message. Which is no surprise, as his professional background is in teaching.
As Bigazi explains in his own words: “Nothing pleases me more than sharing my story to the students. Many kids here don’t know Africa and its troubled history. So it is my pleasure to share my story with the students and teachers, I remember in one school, a child stood up after my presentation and gave me a ” thank you” note. Thanks to CARE for allowing me to be part of this”
When asked, how this volunteer work helps newcomers in the community, he replies “I always tell students that we are ALL One. We all have the same red blood in our veins and as Canada is a country of immigrants, we should strive to love one another and live in peace”
Bigazi is always willing and ready to help, he sees this as an opportunity to give back to the community. The schools, the community and especially C.A.R.E. appreciates his work and dedication to volunteering.
Interested in volunteering with C.A.R.E.? Click here for all the information you’ll need to share your unique talents, passion, knowledge and time to ensure the successful integration of newcomer immigrants and refugees.
C.A.R.E. was formed in 1979 by a group of concerned citizens who wanted to assist with the settlement of Indochinese refugees fleeing the aftermath of the Vietnam War. A year later, C.A.R.E. became a registered non-profit society. In 1982 it received status as a charitable organization. Since our founding, our mission has been to assist in the settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees in the community.
We provide settlement support to newcomers in Central Alberta, in close partnership with the Immigration and Settlement Service of Catholic Social Services
Our Guiding Principles
Throughout our daily work we are loyal to the following guiding principles:
- To empower clients to become self-sufficient
- To provide accessible community based services and programs
- To appreciate cultural diversity and differences
- To respect clients’ right to make their own choices
- To ensure clients of confidentiality
- To value clients, volunteers and staff
- To serve everyone with fairness and respect
- Our office is fragrance free. Thank you for not wearing scented products when visiting our office.
Through our comprehensive website, convenient downtown location, and relevant programs and workshops, we connect volunteers, non-profit organizations, and businesses to create successful volunteer relationships in Central Alberta.
At Volunteer Central, we…
- offer a listing of volunteer opportunities
- list non-profit employment opportunities
- host training programs and workshops
- develop corporate volunteer programs
- promote and support community events
- build capacity in the nonprofit sector across central Alberta
From the Fraser Institute
By Jake Fuss and Grady Munro
There would have been 1.5 million more Canadians who donated to charity in 2023—and $755.5 million more in donations—had Canadians given to the same extent they did 10 years prior
According to recent polling, approximately one in five Canadians have skipped paying a bill over the past year so they can buy groceries. As families are increasingly hard-pressed to make ends meet, this undoubtedly means more and more people must seek out food banks, shelters and other charitable organizations to meet their basic necessities.
And each year, Canadians across the country donate their time and money to charities to help those in need—particularly around the holiday season. Yet at a time when the relatively high cost of living means these organizations need more resources, new data published by the Fraser Institute shows that the level of charitable giving in Canada is actually falling.
Specifically, over the last 10 years (2013 to 2023, the latest year of available data) the share of tax-filers who reported donating to charity fell from 21.9 per cent to 16.8 per cent. And while fewer Canadians are donating to charity, they’re also donating a smaller share of their income—during the same 10-year period, the share of aggregate income donated to charity fell from 0.55 per cent to 0.52 per cent.
To put this decline into perspective, consider this: there would have been 1.5 million more Canadians who donated to charity in 2023—and $755.5 million more in donations—had Canadians given to the same extent they did 10 years prior. Simply put, this long-standing decline in charitable giving in Canada ultimately limits the resources available for charities to help those in need.
On the bright side, despite the worrying long-term trends, the share of aggregate income donated to charity recently increased from 0.50 per cent in 2022 to 0.52 per cent in 2023. While this may seem like a marginal improvement, 0.02 per cent of aggregate income for all Canadians in 2023 was $255.7 million.
The provinces also reflect the national trends. From 2013 to 2023, every province saw a decline in the share of tax-filers donating to charity. These declines ranged from 15.4 per cent in Quebec to 31.4 per cent in Prince Edward Island.
Similarly, almost every province recorded a drop in the share of aggregate income donated to charity, with the largest being the 24.7 per cent decline seen in P.E.I. The only province to buck this trend was Alberta, which saw a 3.9 per cent increase in the share of aggregate income donated over the decade.
Just as Canada as a whole saw a recent improvement in the share of aggregate income donated, so too did many of the provinces. Indeed, seven provinces (except Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador) saw an increase in the share of aggregate income donated to charity from 2022 to 2023, with the largest increases occurring in Saskatchewan (7.9 per cent) and Alberta (6.7 per cent).
Canadians also volunteer their time to help those in need, yet the latest data show that volunteerism is also on the wane. According to Statistics Canada, the share of Canadians who volunteered (both formally and informally) fell by 8 per cent from 2018 to 2023. And the total numbers of hours volunteered (again, both formal and informal) fell by 18 per cent over that same period.
With many Canadians struggling to make ends meet, food banks, shelters and other charitable organizations play a critical role in providing basic necessities to those in need. Yet charitable giving—which provides resources for these charities—has long been on the decline. Hopefully, we’ll see this trend turn around swiftly.
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