The Shared Work Of Community Building
If you want to understand volunteerism in the Peterborough community, talk to Lois Tuffin. As the former editor of Peterborough This Week, an avid volunteer and founder of Volunteer Peterborough (VP), she’s spent years watching this community up close. That gives her a clear-eyed view of both its generosity and its hesitations. People still want to help, Lois says. What has changed is the path between wanting to contribute and actually stepping forward.
“We hear from people all the time that they want to volunteer,” she says, “but they find it a lot of work to find the right role. Taking the time to sort that out can be a barrier because so many potential volunteers have time limitations and they just don’t know what’s out there.”
That observation reveals something important. Volunteering is often described as simple, see a need, offer a hand, problem solved. In practice, it’s more personal than that. People want to feel useful and genuinely welcomed. They want the fit to be right.
Unlike a paid job, volunteers can simply walk away when it isn’t, that’s why making the search easier matters.
“We hear from people all the time that they want to volunteer,” she says, “but they find it a lot of work to find the right role. Taking the time to sort that out can be a barrier because so many potential volunteers have time limitations and they just don’t know what’s out there.”
That observation reveals something important. Volunteering is often described as simple, see a need, offer a hand, problem solved. In practice, it’s more personal than that. People want to feel useful and genuinely welcomed. They want the fit to be right.
Unlike a paid job, volunteers can simply walk away when it isn’t, that’s why making the search easier matters.
How it all started
Volunteer Peterborough grew out of a specific and painful moment. When former federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh visited Peterborough during a provincial campaign stop, he was confronted by hostile demonstrators, some of whom were openly racist. The incident briefly put the city in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons. In response, a group of residents, including Lois, began asking what a positive answer might look like.
What they came to see was that division was being stoked by forces working to fill the void in people who feel unmoored from their communities, offering belonging, identity, and a target for frustration. Lois wanted to help build an alternative.
“We thought if we can create an opposite force where we can foster a constructive sense of belonging and help solve problems rather than just scream and be frustrated, that would go a long way,” she says. “It’s all about engagement and belonging.”
There was already evidence that the appetite was there, visible in the generosity of food drives and community fundraisers. What was missing was a structure to connect that goodwill to ongoing needs across the nonprofit sector.
That need has only grown. Many organizations are still rebuilding after scaling back volunteer programs earlier in the pandemic. Longtime volunteers stepped away, some retired or moved, and others reassessed their priorities. The capacity to recruit and support volunteers also took a hit that many nonprofits are still recovering from.
What they came to see was that division was being stoked by forces working to fill the void in people who feel unmoored from their communities, offering belonging, identity, and a target for frustration. Lois wanted to help build an alternative.
“We thought if we can create an opposite force where we can foster a constructive sense of belonging and help solve problems rather than just scream and be frustrated, that would go a long way,” she says. “It’s all about engagement and belonging.”
There was already evidence that the appetite was there, visible in the generosity of food drives and community fundraisers. What was missing was a structure to connect that goodwill to ongoing needs across the nonprofit sector.
That need has only grown. Many organizations are still rebuilding after scaling back volunteer programs earlier in the pandemic. Longtime volunteers stepped away, some retired or moved, and others reassessed their priorities. The capacity to recruit and support volunteers also took a hit that many nonprofits are still recovering from.
A hopeful update
Things have improved, Lois says, but the pressure on community organizations continues to rise. More seniors need drivers, youth mentoring programs need adults, environmental groups need hands. By law, all charities need board members, another crucial volunteer role.
It’s that gap in nonprofit capacity that drew the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough to support Volunteer Peterborough with nearly $20,000 in funding over the past three years. That assistance has enabled VP to build its website, host Volunteer Fairs, and run training sessions, because connecting volunteers to the organizations that need them is foundational work for the charitable sector.
Those are the practical reasons Lois talks about volunteerism with such urgency. But another is simpler.
At its best, volunteering is one of the ways a community becomes more than a collection of private lives. “Shared human experiences make your life in a community so much richer,” Lois says. “Just working alongside somebody, getting dirty together, laughing together, solving a problem together are fabulous experiences that strengthen our social bonds.”
This is especially true for people trying to find their footing. Newcomers to Canada often see volunteering as a way into community life, a chance to meet people, build confidence, and find a path into the workforce. Students may begin by fulfilling required hours, but those early experiences can shape a lifetime of civic participation.
This is especially true for people trying to find their footing. Newcomers to Canada often see volunteering as a way into community life, a chance to meet people, build confidence, and find a path into the workforce. Students may begin by fulfilling required hours, but those early experiences can shape a lifetime of civic participation.
Changes in volunteer patterns
The patterns of volunteering are shifting, and not always in ways institutions have caught up with. People want a defined role, a clear time commitment, and firm boundaries. Younger volunteers want to know exactly what they’re walking into before they arrive. Even retirees, once the backbone of many volunteer rosters, are less likely to sign on for open-ended commitments. For organizations, that means adapting. Recruitment matters, but so does retention, and so does the quality of the volunteering experience.
When that balance is found, the results can be remarkable. Lois tells the story of Michele Menard, a woman who retired, moved to Peterborough without knowing anyone, and found her first real points of connection through volunteer work. Matched with a lunch program for young mothers, she arrived with her own recipes and spice rack and began cooking meals that carried both practical nourishment and emotional memory. She sat with the young women, listened, and reassured them they’d be all right.
Between that and a second role through Peterborough Folk Festival, Michele found joy, purpose, and belonging.
For anyone wondering whether they should volunteer, her advice is straightforward. Start with the cause. Whose lives do you want to engage with? What kind of work feels meaningful? Then look honestly at your time. Time, Lois says, is the true currency of volunteerism. Then visit Volunteer Peterborough’s website to find a good match.
“There’s a universal desire to make a little corner of the world better,” she says. “If you have that urge, it’s not that big a leap to actually find something that will help you do that.”
Between that and a second role through Peterborough Folk Festival, Michele found joy, purpose, and belonging.
For anyone wondering whether they should volunteer, her advice is straightforward. Start with the cause. Whose lives do you want to engage with? What kind of work feels meaningful? Then look honestly at your time. Time, Lois says, is the true currency of volunteerism. Then visit Volunteer Peterborough’s website to find a good match.
“There’s a universal desire to make a little corner of the world better,” she says. “If you have that urge, it’s not that big a leap to actually find something that will help you do that.”
Justin Sutton is the Communications Coordinator for the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough.
Image of Lois Tuffin provided by Jordan Lyall, copyright 2025.
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