Why You Gotta Be a Service Hater?

In my experience as a volunteer manager, I have sometimes had volunteers tell me that friends and spouses would ask them why they were spending so much time working without pay. The friend or spouse would sometimes try to convince them that they were under appreciated because they were not paid for all their blood, sweat, and tears. Most of my volunteers would tell me this with a "I know different" gleam in their eyes. Because let me tell you, my friends, volunteering is its own reward. There is nothing like seeing kids you've known since they were wee little ones leave for college as amazing young adults, with skills that surpass their peers, and knowing that the time that you have spent over the years contributing to their growth has helped make them the confident, capable leaders that stand before you.

I think of my current seniors who are leaving me soon. I love them all, and they are all amazing, independent, smart, accomplished young women. My mind is drawn to one who, when I met her, was a sweetly sarcastic little 6th grader. Her parents had taught her to always offer to help, and to be positive and friendly. Through the years I have always been able to count on her and her little sister (who I get to keep for a while longer) to be the first (and sometimes only) kids at events to offer to help me set up, to carry things to and from my car, to clean up, and in general to just be super helpful. When I first met her I'm pretty sure she would not have gotten up front in a room full of people and given an impromptu speech, or instinctively spoken up as the leader in a group of her peers. As she has grown, I have seen amazing talents emerge. I can call on her at a moments notice to welcome a group of children and their parents to an event. I can ask her to help make every teenager at an event feel as though they belong, and know that she will automatically welcome new people, get to know them, and in general make them excited to be there. I also know that I can tell her that she needs to plan a weekend event for over 100 people, line up 20 or 30 workshops, assign each participant to 4 workshops that interest them personally, plan a theme (complete with decorations and an evening program for the whole group), produce a packet of information for each group, welcome arriving participants, make announcements throughout the weekend, and field any complaints or problems from both adults and her peers, and she would know without a doubt that she could do it. Not only that, but she would do it amazingly well, and difficult people who always find things to complain about would lavish praise on her. I know this because she has done all these things. Had I told her as a 6th grader that this was my vision for her, she might have laughed at me. But her experiences with volunteers who love her, and as a volunteer herself (not to discount some incredible parenting or the things she drew from her high school classes) led her down a path that gave her the opportunities to develop those talents.

That is just one example of why someone might spend "all that time" volunteering. Not only does it warm my heart as an adult who has worked with her (although I can't technically say I've volunteered with her, for the most part, having been staff for the majority of her youth), but I also know that she gained skills through volunteering. I can also give you countless examples of adults I have worked with who I've seen grow through their volunteer work; adults who didn't think they could do something found that they actually had a knack for it, and that they enjoyed it. They gained a skill or two, and they learned something new about themselves. In addition to all this skill-building, I've seen strong friendships form between volunteers (both youth and adults) who would not have crossed paths had it not been for their volunteer duties in Camp Fire.

So to recap, volunteering has the following benefits:
1. You get warm fuzzy feelings.
2. You can gain new skills (these can even go on your resume, people).
3. You can learn new things about yourself.
4. You can make new friends.


I know there are other benefits, but those are my top four. And that is why I am still volunteering for Camp Fire. So stop scolding and go find your own opportunity.