With the help of their fellow Newfoundlanders, they dig deep into their pockets and support a range of causes and help improve the quality of life of others.
But until recently I didn’t really know how much the island of Newfoundland gave to charity. Recently in a CBCNL article titled “A generous bunch: N.L. leads Canada in charitable donors,” by Laura Howells published online on March, 7, 2016 describes just how much Newfoundlanders give to charity within the Canadian context. This contribution has been supported by statistics.
“In 2013, the latest year for which data are available, 87 per cent of people in Newfoundland and Labrador donated to a charitable organization or nonprofit, making it the only province to significantly exceed the 82 per cent national average….
This top place ranking is nothing new for the province: it's had the highest charitable donor rate in Canada since 2004, when 93 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians made donations…”
A chief executive officer from the Community Sector Council makes some interesting comments about Newfoundland’s charity donations. She said “the province's smaller average donation is likely due more to people's financial situation than their altruism.”…What amazes me is the extraordinarily high percentage of people that are willing to give…That's really more important when you're thinking about social capital and goodwill and people's participation, rather than the actual dollar amount that people give.”
Many of the events I have seen in St. John’s for charity are expensive to attend. I know that no matter how much I would like to attend, I just couldn’t because I couldn’t afford them.
The article provides some reasons why the donations are high in Newfoundland. These include the Newfoundland island idea of while not totally isolated and disconnected there is the idea of looking out for others in their own community.
The statistics did not include contributions made to pages like Gofundme and the daily acts of kindness from others in the day to day life.
I have circulated the article on my Google + page for those interested.
The posters are from three recent charitable events held by the artistic and music community in St. John’s , Newfoundland. The posters were circulated on social media.
