[ad_1]
The volunteer fair should have taken place this weekend at Vienna City Hall. It was canceled due to crown restrictions. Like the annual volunteer fair at the Landhaus in St. Pölten, which was scheduled for November. Now the organizers are trying to incorporate volunteering into the Vienna Christmas market.
The two cancellations dramatically show the current state of volunteering. Trade shows were more popular each year than some trade shows. But this year everything has to take a break. As with many clubs and organizations that are still in Corona sleep mode. For fear of infection, for fear of clusters. This fuels concerns that the virus may cause serious damage to the volunteer system in Austria because volunteers are withdrawing, because youth work is on the back burner, because volunteers are withdrawing due to this situation.
“Many now see that the world keeps turning even without their volunteer work,” says former governor Erwin Pröll, who as chairman of the supervisory board of Kultur.Region.NÖ is responsible for volunteering in his country. He sees the “social coexistence” in danger with the withdrawal of volunteers (see interview below). It is particularly notable when such a movement occurs in fire departments, rescue organizations, or social associations. If volunteers go out, it could have serious consequences for society.
Firefighters don’t want to paint too much in the dark. According to the Lower Austrian Firefighters Association, Covid requirements are being followed to the letter. However: One longs for the day when all restrictions are lifted because cohesion, “camaraderie” would actually suffer greatly.
In many cases, it is not so much money that we are concerned about. The compensation from the NPO fund (non-profit organizations) would work mainly. Furthermore, Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) made it clear in KURIER’s interview on Sunday that the fund would now be expanded.
