Volunteer-run organizations seek board members amid post-COVID downturn
Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
APPEAL, a long-established volunteer-driven English conversation program in the Quebec City region, is appealing for board members and volunteers to continue its activities, amid what its president is calling a post-pandemic drop in volunteer engagement.
“Since COVID, things have really gone down,” said APPEAL president Teresa Chicoine. Fewer people are at- tending the group’s regular English conversation workshops and English-language social activities such as movie and board game nights and book club meetings, and fewer volunteers are stepping up to run activities or serve on the board.
Conversation workshop monitors, who receive a small honorarium, must be native English speakers; participants are mostly older francophones with a smattering of recent immigrants; board members and social activity facilitators can come from any background.
Across the board, she sees the same pattern – participation has dropped. “People don’t want to be bothered organizing things or going to meetings.”
She speculated that the aging population and the rising cost of living may be contributing to a downturn in interest in volunteering.
Chicoine said she surveyed the group’s members and found that “people don’t want to get rid of APPEAL, but they don’t want to step up [and start managing it]. We all wear a lot of hats, but the more people we have, the lighter the work is for all of us.
“It would be sad to see it go after 40 years,” she added.
Jo-Ann Lapointe is in a similar situation. She is trying to re- vive the volunteer-run Quebec City regional chapter of the Canadian Cat Association (Club
félin Québec Métropolitain). The club raises awareness about cat overpopulation and ethical breeding practices and organizes a popular annual cat show, microchipping clinics and various fundraisers and activities for cat owners – when it has the capacity.
She told the QCT that she and one other volunteer are trying to revive the local club after the previous board stepped down this year. In Quebec, a nonprofit must have at least three board members to maintain its legal status; board members oversee an organization’s finances, hire staff and ensure it respects its legal and accounting obligations and its mandate. They also often handle fundraising and the organization of events, which are two of Lapointe’s biggest priorities at the moment – the annual cat show is the Club Félin’s marquee annual happening, over one very intense weekend, usually in September. If volunteers can be found, she hopes the show will go ahead in September 2025.
“We’re looking for board members, whether they be breeders or non-breeders,” said Lapointe, a Lévis-based Serengeti cat breeder. “We’re just taking whoever would like to help us keep it afloat.
“We’ve been announcing on Facebook, through the Canadian Cat Association. It’s just that I’ve noticed that people in the Quebec region don’t seem to want to get involved in anything,” Lapointe said. “You do have to give your time [to organize an event like the Quebec Cat Show] but it’s really rewarding.”
To learn more about APPEAL and to get involved as a participant, facilitator, volunteer or board member, email appeal1984@gmail.com. To learn more about getting involved with the Club félin Québec Métropolitain, email Jo-Ann Lapointe directly at stormypointserengetis@gmail.com.