Volunteerism in this country has been declining more than usual in recent years. Surveys show the largest decline ever recorded between 2019 and 2021. Non-profits are looking for new ways to encourage people to volunteer, with volunteer fire departments leading the way.
Clay Fire Chief Michael Redhead has had a front-row seat watching the decline of volunteerism in New York state.
“When I got here there was probably 70 members 30 years ago," Redhead said. "We’re down to 25-30 guys and girls now. So we’ve significantly seen a decrease in the volunteerism."
He admits times have changed. People don’t tend to stay in communities as long as they did in the past making it harder to make a commitment. Two-income earners are the norm in most families and younger generations are more likely to work several jobs, all cutting into the time it takes to volunteer. He’s hoping some state legislation can make things more palatable financially.
"If we have incentives in there, like the tax breaks and the stipends for training, I think that's going to be a huge game changer."
The other thing Redhead wants to see, more youth joining, to replace the 30 and 40-year volunteer veterans. His department has resurrected a Junior Firefighter program and there are some youths stepping up, like 21-year-old Kyle Tram, who volunteers at the Cicero Volunteer Fire Department.
"I originally started because I wanted to go to EMS, which would help me go into medical school later on," Tram said. "After being in the department and having all the guys around me, being all in the fire service and all interior firefighters, kind of motivated me to go into the fire service side."
Tram said volunteering for him comes from within. He believes his generation is up to the task of making volunteerism more popular.
"I think our generation is more focused on how we can build a future for everybody," Tram said.
The Clay department will be part of a statewide push to get volunteers during a recruitment weekend, taking place Saturday and Sunday. Redhead said his department will have a new message: that everyone is welcome.
"If someone doesn’t want to ride a fire truck, we still have buildings to maintain, we have files to maintain, cleaning, our website, social media," Redhead said.
For a list of fire departments participating in Recruit NY Weekend visit www.recruitny.org.
