'Putting their time and energy': How New Englanders are volunteering in their communities

Matthew Ferreira, The Standard-Times
·12 min read

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, put the U.S. in a collective state of shock that was unprecedented. From security checks, expectations of privacy and crisis planning, the impact of that day would change many things about how the world worked. And while much focus was on the negative, underlying it all was another societal shift — this one for the better.

In the tragedy's aftermath, the U.S. volunteer rate began a steep rise to an all-time high of 28.8% in 2003, according to data from the U.S. Census. The historic peak would set the tone for years to come, before a gradual decline to a 15-year low of 24.9% in 2015.

In the following years, that percentage gradually regained ground, ultimately exceeding the previous all-time high when volunteerism reached 30% in 2019. That is until 2020, when, in March of that year, the country — and world — entered another unprecedented era with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But this time, the nature of the tragedy was anything but conducive to a spike in volunteerism, with new guidelines steeply limiting volunteer opportunities; not to mention personal, medical, and financial hardships becoming a first priority for many.

Barring any other potential factors, the pandemic alone might easily explain the sudden fall to a new low of 23% in 2021. The question now is: Are volunteers returning?

"People are still hesitant to come out and volunteer since COVID," said Migdalia Lavenbein, major for Salvation Army of Connecticut and Rhode Island, based on anecdotal observation. "People are still trying to figure out how to navigate work and family post-pandemic and I think everybody could use more volunteers.

"It's even hard today to find people who want to work paying jobs. It's a national issue."

COVID dropped volunteer numbers, but raised ideas

With 2022 and 2023 data not yet published, it's difficult to say whether formal U.S. volunteerism has seen any post-pandemic rebound. One thing that can be said is organizations that involve volunteers took some forced lessons from COVID that are still proving invaluable now.

At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), employees are given the option to participate in the company's annual Service Day, a day when employees can pick from a number of volunteer efforts to join all around the state. With an 81% participation rate in 2022 — up 5% from 2021 — it doesn't appear BCBSMA has any trouble getting workers onboard, and participation in this year's Service Day, on Sept. 21, looked like it was on par with the year before, said BCBSMA Vice President of Corporate Citizenship & Public Affairs Jeff Bellows.

"We call it the best day of the year," said Bellows. "They [employees] love that participatory aspect of it. They love the opportunity to contribute."

Asked about what he calls a "slight dip" in participation during the pandemic years, Bellows suggested it might have been steeper if it weren't for some creative thinking.

"When we were going through the pandemic and weren't all in our offices like before, a good amount of those projects became virtual projects," he said, noting one project to benefit the Cape Cod-based Happy Hope Foundation, which looks to support hospitalized children with special needs or chronic, life-threatening illnesses with "Happy Hope Kits" filled with things to cheer them up.

"For people involved with that project, Happy Hope Foundation actually sent out the materials needed for things like arts and crafts, games, essential items, right to their homes, so they were able to put the packages together there.

"So those opportunities were a big part of how we were able to keep our Service Day very active despite how difficult things were and ... we're still connected to those."

Volunteerism takes many forms — not all are counted as such

Another thing that can be said is not all forms of volunteerism will be counted in statistics.

This year's Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk on Oct. 1, which raises money for cancer treatment and research at Dana-Farber, had over 800 volunteers in the traditional sense, doing tasks like working registration tables and water stations. But when taking into account the essential nature of what volunteerism is, you might consider that number to be increased by about 8,500.

Police and kids at the 2023 Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk in Boston, Oct. 1, show their support to the walkers who have campaigned to raise money for cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Walk Director Zachary Blackburn said donations were on pace to break a new record this year, the second in-person walk since the pandemic-forced switch to a virtual walk in 2020 and 2021.

"You have your textbook definition of volunteering, but the folks participating [in the walk] are absolutely another example of volunteerism at its best," said Jimmy Fund Walk Director Zachary Blackburn. "There's the actual walk, but then there's the fundraising aspect where people are putting their time and energy into all kinds of things to raise money."

Examples of Jimmy Fund walkers who found creative ways to fundraise this year include Christine Carberry from Rye, NH, a retired consultant who resurrected her practice to earn donations rather than personal income; or Julio Andrade from Richmond, RI, who's been hosting a bake sale for the past eight years to raise funds for the walk.

Volunteerism through employer-paid days of service

On BCBSMA's Service Day this year, one of the projects sent a group of 25 employees to Hathaway Elementary School in New Bedford, MA, to transform the blacktop recess area outside into a well-organized activity center. Using paint, they created designated spaces to serve as things like four-square courts, zones for playing tag; and even a colorful, winding walking trail akin to a Candy Land game board.

The project was done under the direction of staff from Playworks New England, a non-profit that specializes in helping schools make recess as productive as it can be.

Blue Cross Blue Shield volunteers use tape before painting lines outlining a field for students to play tag at the Hathaway School in New Bedford.
Blue Cross Blue Shield volunteers use tape before painting lines outlining a field for students to play tag at the Hathaway School in New Bedford.

"With the five hours they spend painting today, they're going to create thousands of hours of safe and healthy play for kids in school and in the community. Kids will use this for years to come," said Playworks Senior Development Associate Leah Kelly of the Service Day volunteers. "We've found if you can provide schools with a well-organized, well-laid out recess space, it allows kids to maximize the impact of every minute out at recess."

About 28% of companies in the United States offer paid leave for volunteering, according to the Society for Human Resource Management 2023 Employee Benefits Survey. The society says this number has been increasing over the past few years.

Norwich artist Candice Flewharty paints a mural at Reliance Health's Cliff Street location in Norwich, CT. There were Paint and Volunteer Days in September and October, where community members helped paint the mural, guided by Flewharty.
Norwich artist Candice Flewharty paints a mural at Reliance Health's Cliff Street location in Norwich, CT. There were Paint and Volunteer Days in September and October, where community members helped paint the mural, guided by Flewharty.

Nearly half of companies in the Northeast (47%) offer Community Volunteer Programs, including a service day like BCBS-MA, 37% make donations for employee participation in charity events; and 23% match employee charitable contributions.

While most talk of the day's beneficiaries referred to the Hathaway Elementary students, volunteers also spoke of the benefit to themselves.

BCBS-MA employee and Dartmouth, MA resident Jill Terrell-Ouazzani, who worked on the Hathaway Elementary project for Service Day, said, that while it had its conveniences, one downside to the company's shift to a work-from-home model in 2020 has been a lack of human connection with co-workers.

"I wanted to do something on-site this year to be with people for the day, meet colleagues and give back to the community I live in," said Terrell-Ouazzani as she worked on one of the game installments at Hathaway Elementary. "When you work from home, you don't see anyone."

Even without the opportunity to make up for lost time with colleagues, Terrell-Ouazzani said, "It's like a company holiday that we all look forward to."

"I'm from New Bedford and I have two kids so being able to give back to my own community and be around my fellow associates that I haven't seen in a year-and-a-half, it's a good feeling," said BCBSMA employee Jennifer Colon, who was also volunteering at the school. "When they [BCBSMA] release the official list of Service Day sites we can pick from, it's a really big day.

"Sometimes associates will coordinate amongst their teams so they go to the same site. So there's a team-building aspect as well."

"There's a lot of research being done on this [working from home,]" said Bellows. "They're finding people don't feel as connected, which hurts employee retention. They're also finding volunteer opportunities like these foster a sense of inclusion and belonging, and that helps retention."

Afraid to ask

Another Service Day option for BCBSMA workers was to visit the Balanced Learning Center in Fall River, a non-profit specializing in helping special needs students with activities, tutoring, counseling and more. The 25 volunteers there spent the day painting and remodeling a therapy room, which, up to then, wasn't usable, and probably wouldn't have been for several more months, Executive Director Dr. Sara Rodrigues said.

"We have a finite number of offices here, which is tough when you're meeting with a client one-on-one and need a confidential space," Rodrigues said. "So having this room be usable now is huge for us."

But if it weren't for a colleague's push for Rodrigues to apply to be a Service Day destination, she says the room would still be sitting as it was.

"I'm really bad at asking for help," she said. "But after this experience, which was just great all around, we'll definitely apply next year."

Altogether, nearly 3,000 employees participated in this year's Service Day, according to BCBSMA.

100% volunteer programs rely on area residents

While a number of non-profit sources interviewed indicated that operations would be difficult without volunteers, there are some programs that simply wouldn't exist.

The King Street Center, a youth-centered non-profit in Burlington, VT, has several such examples.

"Our Book Buddy program, which partners adults with kindergarten through fifth-grade children to read, write, and play educational games with every week, would not exist without volunteers," said Development & Communications Associate Kate Vetter. "Without them, we would not be able to adequately provide additional educational support for this age group throughout the year. We certainly would not be able to help them in meeting and exceeding their reading levels, particularly through the summer months when school is not in session and King Street Center is in full-day programming."

Then there's the King Street Center Mentor Program, which partners positive adult role models with children from kindergarten to twelfth grade, and "relies on the generosity of Vermonters and their willingness to lend a hand in guiding a young person through the ups and downs of childhood and adolescence," Vetter said. "King Street Center has an average of 60 mentor relationships annually, with many of them being long-term matches, and while we believe that is one of the best track records in the city — arguably the state — it still isn’t enough."

One 100% volunteer-based organization — beloved by the first responders its members serve, from the Cape all the way up through parts of Connecticut — is the Special Signal Fire Association, better known as Providence Canteen. Much like the first responders themselves, these volunteers keep their Providence, Rhode Island, headquarters manned 24/7, with ears to the scanner for the next emergency. When it comes, crews rush out with food, beverages and anything else first responders, as well as disaster victims, might need or want in the heat of the moment.

"When those guys come out of a building, the woods, or wherever, they're sweating and red in the face," Senior Supervisor Joseph Phillips, a retired police dispatcher, said. "So when they have a chance they'll come to the truck, sit in front of the mist, grab a cold water or Gatorade, and we keep towels in a bucket of ice water they can take and wrap around their neck."

Firefighters get coffee and food at the Providence Canteen after a fire in Providence. The Providence Canteen is a group of volunteers that works to cook and serve food for first responders on scene.
Firefighters get coffee and food at the Providence Canteen after a fire in Providence. The Providence Canteen is a group of volunteers that works to cook and serve food for first responders on scene.

For the supplies and operating expenses, Phillips said Providence Canteen relies on public generosity, and area restaurants provide hearty meals that can be warmed up in the truck's mobile kitchen.

At about 40 active volunteers, Phillips says Providence Canteen's current membership is at an average level, which, in his memory, hasn't seen any substantial fluctuation since he joined in 1992. But that's not to say more hands on deck aren't wanted.

"People are always welcome to come apply," he said.

By the numbers

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in partnership with AmeriCorps:

  • Maine was the only New England state to list within the top 10 states in formal (fourth highest) and informal volunteering (third highest).

  • In a list of the 12 largest metro areas in the U.S., the Boston Metro Area came in at No. 1 in 2021 when it came to informal volunteering, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau/AmeriCorps. For informal volunteering, Boston Metro tied with the Phoenix Metro Area for third at 25.4%.

How to help

Here's some information on how to contact organizations featured in this article about volunteer opportunities.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Service days, walks and bake sales: Volunteerism is rebounding in 2023