Volunteer Glue

Do you volunteer? For Little League, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, church school, church nursery, or anything like that? How about the village garden club or society? Or Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions or the Chamber of Commerce? Do you lend a hand with local school events and PTA? What about working on an ad hoc committee or task force at your place of employment? Do you do such things?

Those activities and organizations are just the beginning of volunteer involvements. There are cultural (theater, music, art), educational, medical assistance (elder care at home, care giving for family members, transportation help to doctors for neighbors) and so many other charities in need of volunteers.

Here are more examples:

• Environmental organizations
• Food banks
• Meals on Wheels
• Community newspaper
• Home Owners Association newsletter
• Hobby group
• Friends of library, park district, fire district, etc. 

The list goes on and on. Once you get started identifying these it is hard to stop! Yes, that many opportunities to get started.

I helped host an information booth last weekend at a Volunteer Exposition. Yes, this community wanted to headline all the groups in town who functioned mainly on volunteer horsepower. And they came out to talk to one another, volunteer, and cross pollinate group functions! Several were able to connect on common projects but from different points of view. Win-win buzzed throughout the room.

One booth featured volunteers for the county court system's monitoring child care. These folks were assigned cases of foster children. They followed up on home visits to determine how well the child was treated in the course of prescribed care matching the kid’s specific situation. They filled positions of trust, awesome trust. Paid county staff doesn’t have the time to do all the leg work associated with this area, so volunteers are pulled in and trained to do the work. All for free.

Stop and think about that. We are not speaking about volunteers to tote, carry or deliver communications or things. We are talking about volunteers getting professionally involved in the lives of others so good things will result. How much of this goes on in our nation? How deeply are out lives affected by the work of volunteers?

In a day and age when everyone expects a paycheck, I think the public would be stunned to learn that volunteers are relied on to accomplish a lot of good things. Miracles, really. Miracles.

SCORE is an association of retired people works with individuals wanting to create their own business. Mentors are ready to lend a hand and walk those people through a process that will result in a dream coming true. SCORE mentors also help with existing small businesses with a problem in need of a solution so they can continue in business on a stronger basis of profit and growth. All of this work is done by people with experience and expertise. They share it willingly. And for FREE. Volunteer, remember?

This is just another example of significant volunteerism.

In so many ways America is the land of volunteers. Great things get done by good people needing to share with other good people. Not everyone is looking for a handout. Not everyone is looking for payback. Instead they are looking for and wanting a society that works well for the common good. Pretty basic thing. Basic motivation. Simple.

And yet we are bombarded daily – minute by minute – by news items filled with bad news and laments on our sorry situation.  Well, the situation isn’t sorry.

If you don’t like what you see, step up and make it better. That’s the starting point of all volunteer work. You can do something about the world, the city, the state, or the neighborhood. You can make a difference. Chances are you already have.

So give yourself some credit. And clap your neighbor on the back for the work he or she does, too. We are in this thing called life together. And we will make of it what we will.

Best if we decide now to make it the best we can! It’s the glue that holds us together as a nation. If you stick to it, it will stick with you.

February 9, 2017