Most organized humanistic endeavours — from arts and
culture, to the environment, to the legal system, to social
services, to running programs at a zoo — rely on the help of
volunteers. Much of the time, it is the voluntary section of
an organization that recognizes the need to respond to
shifting trends, economic conditions, and changing social
values. The hard work and front-line response offered by
volunteers has helped to address needs, fill voids, enrich
communities, and improve social conditions all over Alberta.
Although many Albertans enjoyed a degree of prosperity
from the 1950s to the early 1980s, society continued to feel
the effects of poverty, while the crime rate began to
increase. People experienced substance abuse, loss, grief,
suicide, and loneliness. In response, community service
agencies began to open in the 1960s. The Support Network,
for example, evolved under various names, and grew into a
large agency that responds to community members who are in
crisis. This agency and hundreds of other social service
organizations throughout Alberta would not exist today
without a committed volunteer force.
Prior to the early 1980s, there was no group devoted to
the support of victims of crime in Canada. Interestingly,
these volunteer rights groups began to surface after the
1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms was entrenched. The
advocates of justice reform and victims’ rights demanded a
justice system that would have an awareness and regard for
their rights. They also pursued a system in which their
rights were at least equal to those given to accused
criminals under the Charter. The victims-of-crime movement
has been a social phenomenon. Grass-roots bereavement and
network groups have spun out of the movement as a result, in
Alberta and elsewhere. Canada now has numerous registered
victims’ rights groups, hundreds of women’s shelters, and
Victim Services units attached to police departments. Most
of these services operate with the assistance of volunteers.
The justice reform and victims-of-crime movements have
influenced changes to the Young Offenders Act, stalking
laws, and are responsible for the introduction of Victim
Impact Statements.
Schools throughout Alberta have benefited from the
volunteer efforts of parents and community members. These
volunteers devote hours of their time in order to help with
countless school tasks, including fundraising, reading to
students, chaperoning during field trips, helping out in
classrooms and libraries, and lobbying the government for
improvements to education. An example of the impact that
volunteers can have on students is the story of Steve
Ramsankar. In the early 1970s, Ramsankar, the principal of
Alex Taylor School (a poor inner-city school in Edmonton)
initiated a community-based approach to education, hoping to
start a hot lunch program for his students. With the help of
sponsor donations and volunteers, Ramsankar achived his
goal, and was even able to keep the school open during
summer months to continue providing lunch for the
youngsters. In many cases, the food the children received at
school was their only meal of the day. By 1983, this
initiative branched out into eight other inner-city schools.
Inner City School Liaison officers from Edmonton Police
Service also worked with these students and in many ways
pioneered the introduction of Community Based Policing in
April of 1988.
Sports have always been important to Albertans. Alberta
began its tradition of hosting large sports events with the
1978 Commonwealth Games, which were held at the Kinsmen
Centre and Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. Edmonton also
hosted the World University Games (Universiade) in 1983.
Calgary received the honour of hosting the Winter Olympics
in 1988, a massive event that helped put the province on the
world map. Hundreds of volunteers offered their time and
skills at every one of these world-class events, which would
not have succeeded without their help.
On the cultural front, the Alberta Motion Picture
Industries Associations
(AMPIA) was formed in 1973. Mel Hurtig pioneered book publishing in Alberta when he started
Hurtig Publishing in the 1960s. When the Book Publishers
Association of Alberta was founded in 1975, Alberta had five
book publishing companies. By 1987, the association boasted
25 members. The Writer’s Guild of Alberta was formed in
1980, while The Editors Association successfully united in
the early 1990s. These associations were all formed with the
generous help of volunteers.
Heritage Days was formed in 1976 and the Edmonton Folk
Festival got its start in 1979. Among the hundreds of
festivals held in Alberta each year, these two events are
especially noteworthy for their size and popularity. By the
end of the year 1999, Heritage Days was the world’s largest
three-day celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity. Each
year, the efforts of more than 6000 volunteers are required
to operate this festival. The Edmonton Folk Festival, which
stages world- class local, national and international
musicians, attracts a massive audience each year. At least
2000 volunteers donate their time to make this event an
annual success.
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