My sister called the other day. She was fed up with the volunteering that she has been doing and was thinking of quitting. She has been very dedicated volunteer at a library in a nearby town and a singer at her church. Why the big change in her enthusiasm? We’ll get to that, but first. . .
Folks all over the world volunteer for many things, and offer their services to tons of organizations, and save the world millions of dollars in salary.
There are volunteer Jams (a sporadically-held concert series headlined by the celebrities and featuring a multitude of musical acts that perform onstage with the band) , volunteer lawyers who do their work ‘pro bono’, volunteer military or army which is usually paid and/or compensated, and a host of other volunteers for everything our society needs.
Volunteering can be as small as saving coupons or donating your used clothing to giving several hours each week to a particular organization. I pray one hour a week for our priest. It is a commitment I can do at home or in church, any time on the day I’ve signed up for, so it is flexible enough for my lifestyle.
My youngest brother is part of a volunteer fire department. They get summoned to the fire station and help respond to fires and other related emergency services. Volunteer firefighters contrast with career firefighters, who work full-time and receive a full salary. Although, some volunteer fire fighters are part of a combined volunteer and employee department.
There are many different opportunities to volunteer, from religious organizations, community and neighborhood organizations and within one’s family. I volunteer to provide child care for our daughter, which gives me opportunity to get to know our grandchildren.
Even schools offer opportunities and teach volunteerism by service-learning programs which allow students to serve the community through volunteering while earning educational credit
Getting back to my sister and her feelings about quitting her volunteer positions. She tells me there are two types of volunteers. One type signs up for things, but then comes late, leaves early, doesn’t do their best effort. It leaves people wondering why they volunteered. My sister is the other type: the kind that commit their whole being to the volunteer opportunity. They see it as a way to give back, but want to do their very best. They arrive on time, stay until the task is done, do it perhaps better than it might have been done by a paid person.
My sister began in the choir. It was a small group, perhaps 15 or 20 members, plus the pianist. Over the last few years choir members have died or moved away. Some of them just quit; because of health issues or other reasons. Suddenly, my sister was the only singer. Where before she could take turns as cantor, leading the congregation, now she was the lone ranger and felt that this was becoming a burden. Then the pianist left and my sister was the only music for the church. Her husband was the only usher. Yes, the parish was diminishing and they have decided that the burden of volunteering was actually too much.
Another reason to quit volunteering is differing opinions or values. Her library volunteering has been a big part of her life over the past several years. During that time, many members came to my sister to complain about a certain person who seemed to run the show, even though she was not a library volunteer or staff. Recently at a library board meeting, my sister and this person went head-to-head, and no one stood up for my sister. Even though people were as unhappy about the state of library affairs, they did not speak up. My sister decided to resign from the board position and her volunteer duties.
My sister feels pretty free now and is relieved of the burdens that her volunteering had become.
the thing about volunteering is that it is freely offered, and thus freely departed from.
Here’s the definition of volunteer:
vol·un·teer| ˌvälənˈtir | noun a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task. • a person who works for an organization without being paid. * an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service.
The verb voluntaire was first coined in 1755 for a person who offers himself for military service. In the non-military sense, the word was first recorded during the 1630s. More recently, we use the term for community service.
Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as my brother as a fire fighters, medical or educational volunteers. I enjoyed volunteering as a ‘artist in residence’ at a nearby elementary school just before and after I retired from teaching. My granddaughter was a student in the first fifth grade class, but I so enjoyed teaching the one morning a week class that I continued for five years.
Our country has enlisted volunteers from the very start, the colonists banded together to help each other plant crops, build houses and fight diseases. the first volunteer firehouse began in 1736.
In the early 19th century America experienced the Great Awakening as people realized there were many disadvantaged, and those in slavery who needed their help.
Clara Barton, the “Angel of the Battlefield”, worked with a team of volunteers who provided aid to servicemen during the Civil War. Ladies’ Aid Societies made bandages, shirts, towels, bedclothes, uniforms and tents for the soldiers.
The first large-scale, nationwide efforts to coordinate volunteering for a specific need happened during the Great Depression. Administrators of organizations realized the potential of unpaid workers. Volunteering has become mainstreamed as nearly 25 % of the population does some type of volunteering.
According to the Corporation for National and Community Service (in 2012), about64.5 million Americans gave 7.9 billion hours of volunteer service worth $175 billion. Our desire to help will continue to be a part of our lives. But, it’s nice to know that we can retire from volunteering as well.
Resources:
“A brief History of Volunteering in America” April 18, 2013, at: https://bit.ly/3oMSj0Z
“Volunteering and Civic Life in America 2012” study by The Corporation for National and Community Service
“History of Volunteerism in America” by Tamara Warta, LoveToKnow Charity
“Volunteering: An American Tradition” by Susan J. Ellis and Katherine H. Campbell, eJournal USA