The joy of giving

The season of giving started unofficially a few weeks ago when the City of St. Albert announced this year's winners of its philanthropy ward.

That event, and the approach of Christmas, offers a fine opportunity to reflect on what it means to give and the different forms that giving takes.

Of course, giving isn't just for the holidays with gifts for loved ones. Most of the giving in the world doesn't even have a material form and isn't directed at specific individuals. You can give a can of food to the food bank, drop $5 in the Salvation Army's kettle or spend an hour driving someone to a doctor's appointment, for instance.

We all give to causes we think are important. There's a word for someone who cares and who gives.

"Most people are philanthropists," explains Dan Roy. "People see a need and try and fill it."

The local financial consultant was the first recipient of the city's philanthropy awards in 2009. For 13 years, he has been the major sponsor of the Mayor's Walk for Charity, a single event that helps dozens of charities by bringing hundreds of participants out en masse, pledge books in hand.

Roy covers the costs of the Walk, estimated at thousands of dollars per year. This makes it possible for 100 per cent of the approximately $1,000,000 in donations to go straight to the charities and community groups. Rather than saying he was the brainchild behind the event, he says that he was just in the right place at the right time when he was asked to be the sponsor, and he didn't say no.

"The seeds of the Mayor's Walk did not come from me. In all honesty, I felt my pockets weren't deep enough to be an adequate sponsor. I saw the need because I deal with a lot of non-profits and I know of their financial struggles. These agencies make a difference in our community and we all need to support and to ensure that difference is made, that the many needs in our community are served."

He participates in the event too, saying, "I always walk the Walk."

Time vs. money

The city's website says the philanthropy award is for people who demonstrate "exceptional generosity in terms of direct financial support and spirit of community."

In the press release announcing the Hutchinson family as this year's recipients, Mayor Nolan Crouse praised them, offering samples of their contributions to a wide variety of local groups and projects, including housing, minor sports and health and wellness.

"[They] have shown real leadership in demonstrating that it is people who make a difference, and business leaders can apply … the significant human and financial equity they have created in a company for the betterment of a community."

A dollar figure wasn't specified for the value of their donations over the years.

On the other hand, there's Wendy Stiver, the local woman who recently won this year's Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award. It was estimated that she has volunteered with Special Olympics for more than 12,000 full days over 24 years.

There's no way to put a value on that, but considering the province's average hourly wage is $27.50, it could easily be estimated that she has offered approximately $2.5 million worth of her services in her life. Stiver, however, doesn't have her name on a philanthropy award.

Neither does Victor Fernandez, the local firefighter who started Canadian Aid for Fire Services Abroad. Since 2000, he has made it his mission to collect quality used firefighting equipment, pump trucks included, and get them back into service in impoverished locations in Central and South America. The total value of those goods was estimated last year at $2.5 million.

Both have said that the giving is its own reward, and that they get just as much out of their work as they put into it.

How we give

There's an axiom that time is money, but not everyone has deep pockets. Most people, however, have some free time, even if it's just an hour, and everyone has something that they care about.

Some people give more time or money than others but most give what they can. The intention behind the giving remains the same, and all of its forms are invaluable.

"Be it in a monetary sense or a participation volunteer sense … it's whatever it is that you can give to help people," says Glynis Thomas, the executive director of the Community Information and Volunteer Centre.

Downtown businessman Darren McGeown knows the value of giving. He simply offers up the space of his establishment, Arcadia Café, to local artists and musicians. With paintings on the wall and live local music, he's able to give back to the community without any effort or expense, and it benefits both parties by attracting new customers while giving the artists free exposure. The customers benefit indirectly as well, by surrounding themselves with local culture.

Tonight, Arcadia is also hosting a Pop Up Art Gallery event to help boost donations for the St. Albert Kinettes' Christmas hamper campaign.

"I don't want to profit off of it," he emphasized. "I get a profit from having people in here. If people come together and work for one big thing, I want it to go to something worthwhile and good."

Figuring out the facts

This spring, Statistics Canada released its 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating. It shows a skewed curve of total volunteer hours in Alberta across the spectrum of household incomes.

The survey discovered that households with incomes of less than $20,000 and more than $100,000 give almost identically at about 115 hours.

The income level that gives the most amount of its time is the $20,000 to $39,999 level, ostensibly the lower middle class. This group averages 240 volunteer hours per household per year. Those who bring in $60,000 to $79,999 put in the least with 99 hours.

The average number of hours volunteered per person per year dropped from 172 hours in 2007 to 140 hours in 2010 but the overall volunteer rate grew almost seven per cent over a six-year period, reaching almost 55 per cent in 2010.

The scope of giving

Often, people find ways that they can help out the things (i.e. causes, charities, churches, community groups) that are important to them. Both forms of giving are praised with formal awards for volunteerism and for philanthropy but often there is a distinction, an economy of scale that enters into the equation.

A volunteer is someone who freely offers her or his services to a cause with neither financial compensation nor a dollar figure associated with the work. A philanthropist is classically defined either as someone who loves all humankind or someone who actively promotes human welfare.

In the media, however, there is a colloquial definition of a philanthropist that is more prominent. It's a term that only seems to get associated with billionaires like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Daryl Katz.

Does that mean that there is a class structure when categorizing how people give? Why don't we use the word 'philanthropist' when describing someone who drops a few coins into a collection box or who drives meals around to homebound seniors?

"We get hung up a lot on words," Thomas pondered. "I think we've hijacked the definition. If I said philanthropy to someone, I bet nine out of 10 they're going to say, 'Well that means giving money.' "

There's no distinction in her mind, however, between giving time or money. Both have the best intentions and both have a place in terms of keeping communities healthy.

Roy said that giving an award for large-scale philanthropy is fine because it's always important to give thanks for gifts.

"There are so many ways that people can get recognized and those are all good."

He added that awards also help philanthropy to gain prominence. This promotes the concept of large-scale giving to other individuals and businesses that haven't yet written cheques to their own causes of choice.

Thomas agreed, remembering her conversation with Lois Hole who had just been nominated for the Volunteer Citizen of the Year back in 1994.

"She said to me, 'There are so many people who volunteer in the community that should be recognized. Why me? I don't want to take this away from somebody else.' I spent considerable time with her saying that … through that you have the ability to promote volunteerism in the community."

Thomas ended by saying that St. Albert is really a city of givers.

"It's really about everybody and what everyone does to make our community healthy."