I admit it, I get annoyed when someone gets the opportunity to advocate to government and they say we need to start raising awareness of volunteering.

No, we don’t! Just about everyone knows about volunteering. I heard a conversation in a restaurant the other day. Two people were discussing a local charity and one said, “I’d volunteer there … if I could ever find the time.” The other nodded and replied, “Same here. I know I should. I just have too much going on right now.”

Awareness is not the problem. People know volunteering exists. They understand it helps communities. They see volunteers at events, museums, hospitals, shoreline clean-ups, festivals, classrooms — you name it. Awareness is everywhere. What’s missing is real, concrete support for organizations and volunteers.

Advocating for raising awareness of volunteering lets decision-makers off the hook. It’s the political equivalent of offering someone a cookie when what they really need is a meal. When governments say they support volunteering but don’t invest in the structures required to sustain it, they’re not supporting volunteering at all. They’re just cheering from the sidelines.

Organizations often run on the thinnest shoestring budgets imaginable. They handle hundreds of........

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