Snack program at Campbellton ER in jeopardy as volunteer numbers dwindle

Terry Leclair had been waiting for 11 hours in the emergency room at the Campbellton Regional Hospital when he was approached by a volunteer pushing a snack cart.

The only food available in the waiting room was from a vending machine, so the offer of cookies and juice was appreciated.

“It was the first time I got snacks there,” he said. “I thought it was a pretty nice gesture … because the people get frustrated waiting.”

Joël Gagnon, manager of volunteer services at the hospital, says it’s been a popular program, but a shortage of volunteers means it might not continue.

Gagnon said just six people are on his list of volunteers, with no backup for sick calls.

He said a separate hospital program that helps admitted patients during mealtime is also at risk.

Volunteers visit and help those who have trouble feeding themselves, and if a volunteer is absent, patients suffer.

A regional shortage

Campbellton Deputy Mayor Luc Couturier said he recognizes that volunteers numbers across the region are limited, and those who are active are getting older.

“It is very difficult,” he said. “It is always the same people that help everywhere.”

A Statistics Canada report from June said that volunteer hours dropped 18 per cent among Canadians between 2018 and 2023.

The total number of hours of formal and informal volunteering by Canadians fell from five billion to 4.1 billion, according to the report.

On average, those who volunteered in 2023 dedicated about 33 fewer hours than in 2018.

Luc Thériault, who teaches sociology at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, said the country’s volunteer and non-profit sectors require more formal recognition from the government.

“They do tremendous work, and often they are quite invisible compared to other sectors of the economy,” he said.

Thériault said education can help promote volunteerism.

“Teach young people that volunteerism can be part of their life, may be part of their activities that they do,” he said.

Couturier said Campbellton has about 50 names on its volunteer list, but still needs more.

He said the list was put together at a “successful” volunteer recruitment fair hosted by the municipality in April to help more than 25 organizations.