July 13, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
National leaders from former President George Bush to Gen. Colin Powell have promoted the need for volunteerism, arguing that Americans should pitch in to help the needy. But is volunteerism making much of a difference?
Sara Mosle, a writer and former schoolteacher, focuses on that question in The New York Times Magazine (July 2). She details her efforts as a mentor for a small group of young people in New York City and raises a host of concerns about the nation’s growing reliance on what she calls an “unreliable work force” of volunteers.
Ms. Mosle quotes Sara Melendez, president of Independent Sector, a national coalition of major charities and grant makers, on the changing profile of volunteers. “People are volunteering, but when they do, it’s more of a one-shot deal — half a day one Saturday, instead of once a week for X number of weeks,” Ms. Melendez says.
Meanwhile, charities have been dealing with growing demand for services and cuts in government aid that supported their work, so many rely more heavily on volunteers.
Drawing on her own experience as a mentor, Ms. Mosle says that volunteering isn’t enough to meet the nation’s need for social services and to be a substitute for the social safety net. “The problem isn’t with volunteering,” she says, “but with what we’re asking it to do.”
