‘We’re just worn out’: N.B. legion seeks volunteers to avoid closure

A legion in Salisbury, N.B., is facing closure if it doesn’t find enough volunteers.

Surrounded by carrot peelings and chopped lettuce, a handful of volunteers were hard at work Thursday morning as the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 31 in Salisbury, N.B., prepared about 140 lasagna dinners for the community – a monthly task that is becoming harder and harder to do, according to legion president Susan Dryden.

“Our charter was 90 years old last September and since January between illness and age, my volunteer base has dropped drastically and without a new batch of volunteers, we’re forced to look at closing at the end of summer,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking. I’ve been here for 12 years, going into 13, president for seven, but there’s choices that you have to make that we’re just worn out, those of us that are left.”

On top of the annual poppy campaign, the legion usually does a community supper every month, a Vet Build event every other Sunday, Vets Café once a week, rents out their space to other community groups and provides educational opportunities for youth in the community.

Those things are made possible through volunteers, which Dryden says are the backbone of non-profits, but finding enough people to keep everything running becoming challenging.

“As I sat the other night and wrote down my names of my volunteers, I have about 25, but if I’m struggling with 25, the minimum I would need to be reassured that I could keep going would be 20 because out of 20 you might get five that are available when needed,” she explained.

Overall, she says the biggest gap is younger volunteers – people who are able to donate for longer days when needed or can help set up chairs and tables and perform other physically demanding roles.

Fran Boudedridge has been volunteering with the legion for five years.

“I got involved with volunteering at the legion because I get to bake lots and lots of really good desserts, so we make carrot cakes and chocolate cakes and lemon cakes. That was the first reason for volunteering and after that it was just such a great crowd. We had such a good laugh, we had such a good time,” she said.

Boudedridge isn’t a legion member and doesn’t have any veterans in her family, but she says it’s important to keep the almost century-old building open.

“It’s such a big part of the community,” she said. “Some of the suppers, especially pre-COVID, we used to have suppers here and there’d be like a hundred people would come. It was such a big community event. It’s a big part of the community, the vets really needed it, it would be sad to see it go. It really would.”

The legion put a call out on social media for more volunteers and while a lot of people initially responded, Dryden says not everyone reached out to get added to the list.

“After living this since January, it seems to just be the way things are going and…we’re just so sad to think this may need to happen, but it’s one day at a time and we’ll see where we can get to,” she said.

Salisbury Mayor Rob Campbell says many people these days face a high cost of living, leaving them with less time for volunteer opportunities. He notes it’s important to give where you can to keep places like the legion open.

“It would be a huge, significant loss. A couple of different things – obviously we have a veterans café, which is a group of veterans that come into our area – but we even service a broader area where people come into Salisbury that are veterans every Wednesday afternoon,” he said.

He says the Vets Café serves dozens of veterans and offers a place for them to come together and find support and connection with people who can relate to them.

He also points out it would be a huge loss for youth in the community.

“It becomes this visualization, learning area, where our youth can learn about the importance of the contributions that our veterans have given to society over many years whether it be the World Wars, the Korean War, Afghanistan, all those types of things,” he said. “It’s just been an area where our students have been able to go in and learn from the legion and our veterans.”

Dryden says anyone who is interested in volunteering their time can reach out to her directly over Facebook or through the legion’s social media page.

She says the legion is here for all military divisions and the community as a whole and after nearly 91 years, she wants to see that tradition continue.

“I understand people are busy with lives and busy times, but volunteers are the backbones of non-profits,” she said.

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