Why I Volunteer
I volunteer because I like to make things better. I'm always looking for solutions to problems and wondering if there might be better ways to do the things we've done the same way for years. I ask "Why?" a lot, both of myself and of others. Everything to me is a work-in-progress and I always see room for improvement. But, this doesn't make me a perfectionist. Rather, I consider myself an eternal optimist. I'm optimistic that, together, we can make our neighborhood, city, and, eventually, our world, a better place through co-creating improvements across the spectrum of our daily lives.
What does that have to do with volunteerism?
In my experience, this type of work, the work that doesn't have a clear profit motive or that doesn't directly support a current strategic goal, is the kind of work that happens on nights, weekends and other in between times. It's the heavy lifting that lays the groundwork for future innovations and is usually fueled by compassion, empathy, and hope, not money. In short, it is the work of volunteers.
The volunteers that, day in and day out, take this big block of clay we call the world and, bit by bit, shape it into something more beautiful than it was the day before. The volunteers that find that in between time to improve their communities because they think their neighbors deserve it. The volunteers that want to leave the Earth in better shape than when they found it.
Volunteers aren't heroes. They're regular people that make the heroic choice to be part of something that is bigger than themselves. To contribute to a work-in-progress legacy whose thread will be picked up by each subsequent generation willing to find that in between time to build something extraordinary.
What do you want to make better?
J. Brad Wilke, Executive Director
Flash Volunteer