New Era for Volunteer Waterloo Region

Slices of several images of people in doing various activities are laid across the main part of the page. The words Annual General Report, 2025 - 2026 are displayed across the bottom with the logo for Volunteer Waterloo Region.

Serving the sector in this role for more than two decades has been, without a doubt, the highlight of my career – Jane Hennig, Executive Director, Volunteer Waterloo Region

Leading the Appreciation Movement

A large image split into 3 sections with a black banner that runs across the top with the words "National Volunteer Week 2026" and "The Moment it Sparked". The leftmost sections shows a person with gray hair and a clipboard smiling, wearing a vest with a badge that says "Volunteer. In the bottom left corner is a Logo that says "Ignite Volunteerism". The middle section contains 3 separate photos of people who are volunteering, two older ladies in purple shirts, a women in an organge shirt and hoodie among plants, and a younger man playing a piano in a red shirt. At the bottom left of this section is a logo that spells out I V Y using different coloured lines. The third rightmost section shows a person with their back turned to the camera and a light blue shirt that says "Volunteer" in black letters. In the bottom left corner is the logo for International Volunteer Year.

“Volunteers want to be thanked and shown how they have made a difference – they want to know the impact of their contributions.” -Volunteer Canada 2013 Volunteer Recognition Study

IVY26: International Volunteer Year

The United Nations has declared 2026 the International Year of the Volunteer (International Volunteer Year or IVY26 for short). What does that mean, and why does it matter?

Have you heard of Intergenerational Volunteering?

A group of people sitting around a round table inside a building with large windows in the background looking out onto a patio scene. There are playing cards from the game UNO! in several people's hands. One person in a purple shirt and black hat is reaching towards the centre of the table towards a stack of cards piled up in the middle of the table.

[Intergenerational Volunteering] is much more complex than putting a 14-year-old in a room with an 80-year-old and telling them to figure it out. A relationship of trust must be developed. – John Campeau

When is it Our Turn at the Table?

For those of us who live and work in this vital and values-driven space, it was both disheartening and deeply concerning to see charities and nonprofits once again absent from debates, platforms, and headlines. – Lois Graveline, Hilborn Charity eNewes

The Decline in Volunteerism

The 2023 survey data, released today, show how these indicators changed over this recent, tumultuous period from 2018 to 2023. In particular, this period was marked by a significant decline in volunteering and in the number of donors.