Several Burnaby non-profit groups will be left without extra help, now that the federal government is eliminating a national youth volunteer program.
The federal government effectively announced the end of the Katimavik program with the release of the latest budget on March 29.
"It's a tremendous loss," said Tom Riessner, director of operations for ReStore, a building supplies shop whose proceeds help fund Habitat for Humanity. "It's a great loss to kids, - but also to the greater community."
Katimavik sends groups of 11 volunteers, aged 17 to 21, to work full-time for six months in several communities across Canada. The program has been around for 35 years, and more than 300,000 young Canadians have participated.
Riessner said ReStore has partnered with the program for about six years. Youth volunteers help in the shop and with Habitat for Humanity's building projects.
Riessner usually gets two volunteers per six-month shift to help in his Burnaby store.
"Katimavik has suffered the death of a thousand cuts," Riessner said. "We have to try to find additional volunteers to cover 80 hours of volunteer labour, per week. That leaves a huge hole for us."
Riessner said the program's loss would affect a lot of other non-profits that are stretched thin.
Other Burnaby groups that get volunteer help from the program include Forest Ethics, the Burnaby Arts Council, Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion, the Burnaby Hospice Society, the Neil Squire Society and the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C.
Katimavik estimates that each community that participated in the program will lose 14,900 hours of free labour, equivalent to $224,000. The organization estimates for every dollar of government funding, communities get $2 back in the form of free help. Riessner said the government's decision to cut the program "lacks vision."
"Here you have a bunch of kids who really want to get to know the rest of the country, and they want to learn and they want to help the community. The government doesn't seem to have a lot of time for that, and it's disappointing," he said.
Katimavik posted reaction to the program cancellation on the organization's main page.
"It is with extreme disappointment that we learned yesterday that the government had decided to end its funding commitment to Katimavik," the statement reads. "The decision is even more surprising considering that the recently made public Canadian Heritage summative evaluation of our programs makes very clear how Katimavik's programs are not only relevant, important and valuable, but also how the organization attains its targets and the programs tie in with government-wide priorities and the department's strategic objectives."
Funding ends March 31, 2013, but Katimavik is hoping the government will reverse its decision. The organization is collecting testimonial from people who've been involved in the programs. There's also an online petition to sign. Go to www. katimavik.org for more. The federal NDP is urging the Conservatives not to cut the program and scheduled a press conference to be held after NOW deadlines.
www.twitter.com/JenniferMoreau
