By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle

Declining numbers of volunteers – the life blood of community organizations who put on many of the events and programs in Osoyoos – continues to pose a looming crisis as many current volunteers are “ageing-out”.

The problem, as Birgit Arnstein, President of the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society (OLWQS) notes, is compounded by the fact many of the volunteers are active with more than one group, meaning the loss of one volunteer impacts multiple organizations.

Arnstein is fairly typical. Aside from her water quality duties you might spot her at the Easter event in a chicken costume, at Cherry Fiesta doing crowd control, or all bundled up with glow stick in hand during the Christmas Light-up parade, to name only a few.

As a member of several volunteer groups, she highlights, “all are constantly needing volunteers. And as we age out, we need to replace ourselves,” she says, noting there are many groups with older volunteers.

By happenstance Arnstein got talking about the issue with Kara Burton, Curator and Executive Director of the Osoyoos and District Museum and Archives. With Arnstein suggesting some sort of event to try and attract volunteers, “I just kind of jumped on the bandwagon,” Burton laughs, adding “this town runs on volunteers.”

“There’s a lot of groups out there that all need volunteers, but also a lot of people don’t know what groups are out there that are looking for volunteers or doing events” Burton noted.

“Half the events in this town, or more than half, are put on by nonprofits and volunteer groups – pretty much all of them when you think about it and if it weren’t for the volunteers we wouldn’t have all these events.”

And so as a way to drum up support for their own groups that they’re involved in, plus help out other groups, they seized upon the idea of holding a Volunteer Fair. Of course having the ideal space in the form of the museum is a key factor.

But the question remains as to why all these organizations are struggling to attract new volunteers when the population continually inches upwards. Arnstein suggests that like many aspects of society, the pandemic also left its indelible mark on volunteerism.

“There was a dip from COVID in that a lot of people were still a little bit leery about getting out or they stopped volunteering during COVID, and just haven’t gotten back into the swing of it,” she said.

There may also be a generational aspect to the declining numbers of volunteers. “Younger people may not have grown up with the idea of volunteering as much,” she says. “If you look at the age group of most of the volunteers in town, they’re all, dare I say, of a certain age.”

She adds that encouraging younger people to come and participate and “letting them know that it could actually enrich their lives, is important, and this fair, hopefully will do some of that.”

For young families the situation is more complicated and the reason for volunteering changes over time, notes Burton.

“When my kids were younger and involved in hockey and dancing, that’s where I volunteered, that’s where I put my time. I was into the things that my family was doing, not necessarily into the community activities that we were participating in. “Younger families, with younger children, for those parents there’s not enough hours in the day,” she adds.

“So I think it’s just a different way of volunteering,” she said, adding that as you get older, “you start looking for different ways to volunteer in different places. I think it’s just sort of an evolution and we just need to get that age group in and start.”

Citing her own experience, Arnstein said, “It’s a wonderful way to get to know people, especially if you’re new in town.

“It’s one of the first things I did. I came to town and I saw the Festival Society doing the parade. I went up to the organizer who was Sue [McKortoff] at the time, and I said, ‘I’d like to get involved’.” And then she saw the Desert Centre’s “Romancing the Desert” event and promptly volunteered to help with it, and on it went.

“There are so many wonderful opportunities,” but she acknowledges that not everyone is comfortable enough to go up to somebody and volunteer. “But this fair, hopefully, will let people know about what the various opportunities are.”

Burton adds that it’s important to find a group that you’re passionate about. “Personally, I’m not going to go and volunteer for something that I’m not passionate about, I’ll volunteer and I’ll put my time into things that speak to me. If you’re just volunteering for the sake of volunteering, you’re not really committed,” she added.

At the point the Times Chronicle spoke to the two organizers they had sent invitations out to all the organizations focused on Osoyoos with the hope they will get between 12 and 15 groups which are likely cover a wide spectrum, from Friends of the Library to the Special Olympics, to the Emergency Support Services (ESS) and everything in between.

The booths will be located inside the museum with the Rotary Club of Osoyoos cooking up hotdogs outside, sponsored by Nesters Market and the ESS.

The Osoyoos Volunteer Fair and BBQ will take place on Saturday, May 3 from 1-3 p.m. For more information call 250-495-2582.