In a week when the community got together to honour volunteer extraordinaire Bill Moody, a man who epitomizes the essence of volunteering, it seems almost serendipitous that we received the following media release.
Caught in the time crunch? With the clocks about to “fall back” and give Ontarians a precious extra hour for one day, Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada (BBBSC) and FedEx Express Canada are asking people in the province and across Canada to join them on Facebook to discuss how they would use a single hour to make the world a better place.
To start the dialogue, the two organizations asked Angus Reid to poll people about their time priorities, and the results show just how over worked, stressed out and time crunched Ontarians actually are.
Nearly a quarter of Ontarians surveyed (23 per cent) were so time deprived they said they would use their extra hour to sleep. Another 28 per cent would spend their hour catching up on chores and household errands.  Relationships and health were priorities – 20 per cent of Ontarians would invest their hour in family and friends and 13 per cent would exercise.
Not surprisingly, the last thing time-stressed Ontarians want to do is work. A solitary four per cent in the province said they would spend their hour on the job.  A scant five per cent of Ontarians would pursue personal interests or hobbies.
Eight per cent of Ontarians would devote their extra hour to community service.
“Imagine what could happen to levels of personal satisfaction and connectedness if everyone could free up just one hour to improve life in their communities. As for the sleep deprived among us, there is no better way to revitalize than helping others,” says Bruce MacDonald, president of BBBSC.
The fact that Ontarians are forgoing community service because of the frantic pace of their lives should come as no surprise. What is less known is that being a volunteer is a proven path to personal happiness and self-fulfillment. In fact, research clearly shows that community volunteers believe they get far more out of donating their time than they give.
In a bid to inspire people to make time to volunteer, the two organizations want to engage people in a broad Facebook discussion about the power of a single hour to change lives and strengthen communities. People can voice their ideas about the value of an hour by visiting http://www.bbbsc.ca/facebook and uploading videos describing how their lives are being stretched by today’s hectic pace and how they would make the world a better place with a single hour.  Two video or comment submissions will be randomly drawn to each win a return air travel voucher for two to any destination served by WestJet. Contest conditions and rules are posted on BBBSC’s Facebook page.
Few organizations understand the difference an hour can make better than FedEx Express Canada, which has been a supporter of BBBSC for 15 years. For the past five years the company has focused its support on helping Big Brothers Big Sisters expand its national in-school mentoring program. In-school volunteer mentors devote one hour per week to visit a local school to provide guidance and friendship to a child in need.