Volunteering in the upswing: Austria's volunteers as a company support!

Volunteering in the upswing: Austria's volunteers as a company support!

Linz, Österreich - In Austria, an impressive picture of the volunteer is shown: On December 5, which is committed annually as an international day of the volunteer, the impressive number of 46 percent of the population from the age of 15, which voluntarily get involved. This is a strong sign of the community's sense of community, as reported by the kathpress . In the Diocese of Linz alone, over 60,000 volunteers are active in a variety of functions, which leads to over 6.5 million hours of voluntary commitments per year. Monika Heilmann from the Diocese of Linz emphasizes that the church and social life would be inconceivable without these committed citizens.

volunteers as the foundation of society

The volunteers in Upper Austria take on important tasks in pastoral teams, parish councilors and in liturgy. Your work goes far beyond the traditional idea of volunteer work and also extends to areas such as old people's home and emergency pastoral care. The volunteers play an increasingly important role, especially in the context of the upcoming structural reform, which should be completed by 2028. The new structure is intended to revolutionize the way of working by the parishes by taking over the management of volunteers, as explained by the Diözese Linz . This enables closer cooperation and greater involvement of the volunteers in decisions.

As part of the international day of volunteering, not only the importance of voluntary work is celebrated, but also referred to the challenges with which many volunteer people are confronted. The Evangelical Diakonie therefore calls for the new federal government to create better framework conditions to promote this valuable commitment. The director of Diakonie, Maria Katharina Moser, emphasizes the need for increased financial support so that the volunteers can be effectively supported and accompanied.