Volunteers Can Change the World

What is Volunteering

Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity and is intended to promote goodness or improve human quality of life. In return, this activity can produce a feeling of self-worth and respect. There is no financial gain involved for the individual. Volunteering is also renowned for skill development, socialization, and fun. Volunteering may have positive benefits for the volunteer as well as for the person or community served. It is also intended to make contacts for possible employment. It is helping, assisting, or serving another person or persons without pay.

Volunteers do such a wide variety of tasks and jobs in your local and global communities.  Volunteers do everything from stuffing envelopes to serving on boards of directors. They raise funds for charity, coach sports teams, run youth and children’s programs, deliver meals, shop for the elderly, help recent immigrants settle in, work to protect the environment, help feed hungry people, guide museum and art gallery visitors, and build homes for homeless people, and so on and so on.  Volunteers are the basis for many of our earliest establishments, including Hospitals, Homes for the elderly, Orphanages, and several well known and long standing health and welfare organizations including the SPCA (Established 1869), the Canadian Red Cross (1896), The Victorian Order of Nurses -VON (1897), and Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada (1913), just to name a few.  Take a few moments and think of the place that are driven by volunteers and the work that they do, the meals on wheels drivers, the parents of the PTA, the girl and boy scout leaders, the local minor sports associations, the porters at the hospital, the list can go on and on.  Chances are you and/or your family are impacted by the work of a volunteer on a regular basis.

As our lives continuously get busier and busier, it gets harder to find time to donate.  According to the National Statistics the number of those who volunteer are dropping.  In 2013 12.7 million Canadians volunteered their time, compared to 13.3 million in 2010, that’s a 5% decrease.  On the other hand, the need that volunteers service are on the rise.  And so the cycle continues.

Margaret Mead quoteImagine what the world will be like without the dedication of volunteers with a cause, what would the world be like if Rotary International did not have the mission to eradicate   Polio, as a result Rotarian’s have contributed over US$850 million and hundreds of thousands of volunteer-hours, leading to the inoculation of more than two billion of the world’s children.

Please take some time to recognize the time and hard work volunteers put into your community and abroad to ensure that great Organizations can continue their work, and continue to change the world.

National Volunteer Weeks

  • April 12-18 2015
  • April 10-17 2016
  • April 23-29 2017

 

 

Here’s to the Crazy Ones

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 “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.

Here we Go!

There is no better day then today.

Darren, I am burning my boat as I land in unfamiliar territory.  As simple as it sounds…create a newsletter and send it out… it is far more difficult in practice.  However, the time has come to stop hiding in the unknowns and open myself to the never ending possibilities that are presented everyday, when you make yourself aware.  I looked back in my templates, and this newsletter was stated in April of 2014.  Now, March 2015, and we are still having the same conversation.  But this time I have chosen to make it happen.

I have to admit that I  am really good at creating the medium.  Hiding in the safety of my own hard drive.  Lately, I have come to realize the that is holding me back is nothing more then me and the thought of putting myself out their to the world, vulnerable, open to criticism,and judgement.  The wheels of worthlessness, and inadequacy spin wildly out of control, screeching any form of forward momentum to a complete halt.  Self doubt kicks in.  Why me? What do I have to offer? Who do I think I am?  and so on and so on and so on.  A never ending spiral of all the reasons not to, and the all reasons to step out long forgotten.

This time is different, the reasons why a Newsletter is important has remained the focus, so I did what I do best…Research.  I found a repeating theme of 5 things that support the importance in creating and sustaining a monthly newsletter.  These 5 reasons are…


  1.  Keeping you Connected – a newsletter allows for you to make a connection and create a relationship with your clients and potential customers so they can get to know you and your business. As they get to know you they start to trust you and will be more inclined to use your services.
  2. Staying in touch – a newsletter allows you can keep your connections up to date on new services and products you are offering. How will they know what you can do for them unless you tell them?
  3. Provide effective tools and information – This information can be used for further success of your connections business.  Write about industry trends or things that will help them in their business – they may not even know they exist or that they need them. For example, write an article (with a link to your site) on how social media will help them grow their business.
  4. Strengthen relationships/Builds your Brand – Become the person they turn to for assistance and service.  Remember you are the expert.
  5. New Audience Potential – Ask your customers to share the newsletter with other businesses or their clients, as well it is a way to connect with new people, and potential customers.

“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.” ~ Winston Churchill ~