Rising prices lead to volunteer crisis

Alex de Vos
Underprivileged children and the disabled are missing out on services across the region as rising living costs force volunteers to quit their roles, according to community organisations.
The shortage has forced Geelong’s peak recruiting services for volunteers to shift its strategy focus to younger generations.
Volunteering Geelong’s Gail Rodgers blamed rising fuel prices and increased living expenses for the shortfall.
The service was struggling to fill record vacancies for volunteers across the region, she said.
“There’s a huge number of vacancies because of increased living expenses,” Ms Rodgers said.
More than 200 of the region’s not-for-profit organisations were screaming out for help, she said.
“We have about 450 volunteer vacancies on our database, which is the largest number we’ve had.”
Ms Rodgers said some of the organisations feeling the pinch included Karingal, PCs For Kids, Bethany and The Red Cross.
“There’s a huge need to get more people to put their hand up to help.”
Ms Rodgers said Volunteer-ing Geelong had changed its recruiting strategy in a bid to fill the vacancies.
“We’ve had to think differently about recruiting volunteers,” she said.
“We’re doing a lot of work on changing the role of volunteers and also recognising that we’ve got an ageing population.We’ve started looking at recruiting Generation X and Y and those generations will want to volunteer in very different ways.”
Ms Rodgers urged anyone considering volunteer work to contact Volunteering Geelong.
“Often people think about volunteering but don’t know if they have the time,” she said.
“There are so many ways people can volunteer.”
Ms Rodgers said residents wanting to volunteer should phone her organisation on 5221 1377 or visit its offices at 87 McLarty Place, Geelong.