Agencies recognize volunteers during Volunteer Week
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LEWISTOWN -- Roxanne Garrett certainly wasn't around when volunteerism was started back in the 1700s.
But she believes it remains woven into the fabric of American life since Benjamin Franklin encouraged his fellow Philadelphians to establish America's first volunteer firefighting brigade, the Union Fire Co., in 1736.
"The volunteer spirit is still alive and well in Mifflin and Juniata counties," said Garrett, communications coordinator for Mifflin-Juniata Regional Services Corp. "We currently have around 100 active volunteers in our system, who offer support across each of MJRSC -- The Care Network's affiliate programs."
Since this is National Volunteer Week -- April 16-22 -- those volunteers are being recognized for their valuable efforts. Each agency and organization recognizes the contributions of their volunteers during this week. National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 and has grown exponentially each year.
Nationally, American volunteers donated an estimated 4.1 billion hours in 2021 to help their communities with an economic value of $122.9 billion, according to AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism.
However, formal volunteer participation around the country fell to 23.2 percent between 2019 and 2021 -- a 7 percent decline that is the largest drop the U.S. Census survey has recorded since it began tracking it in 2002.
Though volunteerism around the country has been declining for decades, the rapid fall is further straining the social safety net, especially with non-profits currently dealing with an increasing demand for services, like food pantries.
Garrett said those trends don't hold true in the Juniata Valley - at least for her agencies.
"In the 2020-21 fiscal year, volunteers across all programs contributed a grand total of 5,270 hours," Garrett said. "They drove 85,172 miles to deliver food, provide transportation, visit long-term care facilities and more. Our volunteer Medicare counselors clocked 213 hours of service, Ombudsman volunteers invested 193 hours in the long-term care services advocacy program, and our Telephone Reassurance volunteers logged nearly 245 hours in phone call conversations with isolated seniors who requested contact.
"CARS volunteers assist passengers in need of rides to out-of-county medical appointments," she added. "In 2020-21, volunteer drivers logged more than 206 hours and traveled 5,776 miles on behalf of our consumers."
That doesn't mean Garrett isn't always looking for fresh faces to volunteer.
"With that said, as our volunteer base ages," she explained. "We can always use additional support from community members who would like to make a difference, as well as substitutes who can be called in as needed to contribute as home-delivered meal drivers or senior center helpers."
Colette Hartzler, executive director of the United Way of Mifflin-Juniata, is involved in several community groups that have difficulty finding volunteers.
"I think a lot of our service clubs, like the Kiwanis and Lions clubs are aging, and there are few young people who want to step up and join these causes," Hartzler said. "I think it's fairly common to find a deficit when it comes to volunteers in many areas of community life, from churches to clubs - people seem to be busy with other activities."
The same is not true for the United Way, which Hartzler said "has had great success with volunteers for our Day of Caring projects."
Last year, the United Way had 330 volunteers that day. Teams came from both Mifflin and Juniata counties, with 32 volunteer teams and 28 projects.
"We were shaking the bushes to find more projects," Hartzler said. "We were able to do that and put all of these wonderful volunteers to work; it was a great day for our two counties."
That event - combined with the 55 walkers who raised money and came out for Walk for Warmth in February on one of the coldest days of the year - made Hartzler say, "Volunteerism isn't dead!"
She also explained the United Way of Mifflin-Juniata and Juniata County Prevention Board is currently organizing a Teen Day of Caring.
"This project will be made up of high school students in the Juniata County School District," Hartzler said. "Their project is working with the Juniata County Food Bank.
"It's not one day only, but several days to allow more participation from our busy teenagers," she added. "The response seems to be very positive."