TORONTO – No one can accuse young, work-hard, play-hard, urban professionals of being lazy.
Yet ask them if they do much volunteer work and there’s a good likelihood they’ll say “No.” Known for their drive, enthusiasm and strong desire to be head honcho, generation Y hardly has time to spare. While pursuing their lofty goals, some admit they’ve all too easily neglected donating any of those rare free moments to charitable work. “I knew I wanted to get involved with volunteering. But I say that to myself every year – I say I’m going to start giving back to the community,” says Janelle Maregman, of Brampton, Ont. Thanks to an innovative event that brings under one roof everything a would-be volunteer might need, the 22-year-old student and accounting intern is at long last entertaining her altruistic goals. Billed as part volunteer fair, part silent art auction, part night on the town, an event called Timeraiser – now spreading across the country – is meant to plant the seed of good work, nurture it and help it grow. The novel concept is simple: Hundreds of people, dressed to impress, mingle with artists and representatives of not-for-profit organizations that are seeking volunteers – all while sipping wine and grooving to cool tunes. As they discover opportunities that match their skills and interests, they scope out artwork by mostly emerging and local artists. Attendees bid on those original works of art not in money, but in time: They must pledge to complete the greatest number of volunteer hours to score a piece.
“If it wasn’t for Timeraiser and me bidding and me winning – I have to commit 80 hours in my year – it would probably be just another year of saying ‘Oh, I’ll (volunteer) sometime,'” said Maregman, who now has one year to prove her commitment before she can claim her art.