For Ken Hawley, volunteering time and skills to help others is a way of life. The Rogers Group Financial Advisors Ltd. financial advisor and vice president believes everything he has is “a gift from God,” and that a portion of it should be given away to those less fortunate.

“As a consequence,” he says, “my wife, Doreen, and I have always been involved in giving back to the community in which we live, or wherever we’re led to be involved.”

In the early years of their 38-year marriage, the Hawleys taught Christian education classes at their Vancouver church, helped out at their children’s schools and worked on election campaigns.

In recent years, their volunteer work has taken them farther afield. Hawley has helped raise money in the Vancouver business community to build homes in Honduras. He and Doreen have also travelled to Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras to visit World Vision International development projects and to provide management expertise. They have just returned from Tacuba, El Salvador, where Hawley finalized plans for a fruit-processing plant for which he had raised funds.

At home, Hawley has helped both Regent College and the Union Gospel Mission, which works with street people, set up the infrastructure to handle planned gifts, and he sits on their planned-giving boards.

He also gives his time to the industry, working with the Insurance Council of British Columbia and with the grants selection committee of the Canadian Million Dollar Round Table Foundation to determine which charities receive donations each year.

While his Baptist upbringing introduced him to volunteering, Hawley also enjoys it: “We feel good when we help others. It’s part of being human.”

Neena Chappell, professor of sociology at the University of Victoria, says research shows a link between physical health and volunteering. “The reasons why aren’t perfectly clear,” she says, “but we think it’s because volunteer work gives people a sense of productivity, which makes them feel good about themselves. And the social interaction involved in volunteer work is also healthy.”

Volunteer work gets us out of our own problems and into the lives of others, notes Peggy Grall, a psychologist and change coach in Milton, Ont. Human beings are hard-wired to reach beyond themselves, she adds: “I believe God in His/Her infinite wisdom designed us that way. Once the basic needs of food, shelter and safety are met, our greatest joy seems to be helping other human beings.”

Statistics Canada’s Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating says Canadians contributed about two billion hours of volunteer time in 2004 — the equivalent of about one million full-time, year-round jobs. Anecdotal evidence indicates members of the financial services industry are doing more than their share.

“People in our business should be taking the extra step to help others,” says Tom Caldwell, founder and president of Caldwell Securities Ltd. in Toronto. “It’s an extension of our jobs to be out in the world.”

Caldwell encourages his employees to reach out to others, often on company time, and he sets the example. He is well known for spearheading and funding many good causes, including Followers Mission, which provides meals and counselling to the needy in Toronto, and Corporate Counselling and Chaplaincy, which gives counselling and financial support to Toronto business people in crisis situations.

“I volunteer for everything, burn out, quit, then feel guilty and start again,” he says.

Marlene Deboisbriand, president of Volunteer Canada, an Ottawa-based non-profit organization that promotes volunteerism across Canada, notes that business people often volunteer for corporate charitable projects and with industry organizations. “It shows good corporate responsibility,” she says. “And business people often volunteer for the networking benefits.”

But she notes that, according to the StatsCan survey, the No. 1 reason Canadians volunteer is to make a contribution to their communities. “People definitely want to make a difference,” she says.

Russell Todd, president of Todd & Associates Financial Knowledge Inc. , gets great satisfaction from using his financial and IT skills to help his Calgary faith community. He’s treasurer of the parish council at Ascension Catholic Parish, and oversees the technology committee. He has fine-tuned the church’s computer system, Web site and sound system, and makes sure there’s enough capital funding to keep it all up and running. “A priest may give great sermons and the choir may sound wonderful,” he says, “but if you can’t hear them, what’s the point?”

@page_break@Todd has also brought in PowerPoint presentation for hymns, which saves the parish $10,000 a year on hymn books. And he has implemented a pre-authorized debit system for parishioners’ Sunday offerings.

“It’s made a significant difference in cash flow,” he says. “In the past, summer was a dry season because parishioners went out of town. That doesn’t happen anymore.”

Michael Sanders volunteers in order to deepen his ties with his community. “Human beings are naturally programmed to be part of a community,” says Sanders, an account manager at Vancity Credit Union. “The more we’re connected to our communities, the happier we are.”

Sanders works and volunteers in the Hastings Sunrise neighbourhood on Vancouver’s east side, where he bought his first home a year ago. His volunteer job as treasurer at the Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre is his way of ensuring the community stays safe and vibrant. The centre operates programs that promote safety and security, including neighbourhood patrols, park cleanups and safety education.

His work involves drawing up grant proposals, working with the centre’s accountant to finalize quarterly reports and fundraising. Sanders’ successes over the past year have included implementing a new cash-control system and a new fiscal year.

While much of this work is done on his own time; some of it is on company time. Vancity has a strong culture of community involvement and encourages its employees to volunteer in their communities, often during work hours. It also provides grants of $250 to organizations at which employees volunteer.

“There are two types of people: takers and givers,” Caldwell notes. “The takers end up alone. The givers live full lives with friends and family. When you’re helping others, you start to forget about your pains and resentments. You realize how incredibly blessed you are. And you don’t need money to give. You can give your time and use your skills to help other people.”

Caldwell talks about a thank-you letter he received from a boy who had attended a children’s camp that he sponsors: “I was feeling really down at the time, then I got this letter from this kid who said this was the first time he’d been to a ‘real camp.’ He signed it ‘Love, Malcolm.’ It brought tears to my eyes. It gave me a sense of validity. It was like the Good Lord was telling me I wasn’t a total schmuck.

“I’ve told young people that whatever adds to their self-esteem, they should keep doing, and whatever robs them of self-esteem, they should keep away from,” Caldwell adds. “I guess that’s why I like helping people. It makes me feel good about myself.” IE