It may seem counterintuitive to sing the praises of volunteering with so many people in the country unemployed right now. But, strangely enough, this may be the best time to consider the importance of community service.
I am fortunate to have a full-time job that I enjoy, working with people that I like. It pays my mortgage and my bills and allows me to travel and save for my future. I also have a volunteer job at a local animal shelter. Between my two jobs, my job at the shelter probably gives me more sustenance, though - because they pay me with love.
After working for 2 years as a dishwasher at a soup kitchen, I decided I needed a change and started working at the animal shelter about 4 years ago. Although I don’t work many hours per week, the work can be difficult. I socialize cats and occasionally help out with special events. Socializing cats is important because many of the cats that end up in shelters have been neglected or abused. Before they are ready to be adopted, they have to learn to trust people. This requires that we spend time with them - playing with them, brushing them, and just trying to make them feel cared for. It can be time-consuming and sometimes heartbreaking. We also spend a lot of time changing litter boxes and cleaning and refilling water bowls. Because I am usually at the shelter during the hours it is open to the public, a substantial amount of time is also spent answering visitors’ questions and educating them about cat behavior.
The other volunteers I work with are a varied and interesting group of people. When I first began working at the shelter, I mostly helped with fundraising events. Most of the people I worked with on those projects were older women who seemed to have more money than they knew what to do with. They were all very generous, kind women who had been working with and donating to the shelter for many years. Most of them are active in the community and have the sort of social and political connections that are useful for nonprofit, charitable organizations to maintain. In addition, many of our volunteers are high school and college students who work there because they just love animals and enjoy spending time with them. Whenever I meet a new volunteer at the shelter, I’m always curious about the sort of work they do and what led them to decide to volunteer there. Recently, I had a conversation with a volunteer who comes in every morning to clean the shelter. She sweeps and mops the floors, scrubs the walls, and just generally disinfects all of the areas that the dogs and cats inhabit. I asked her what she does for a living and she told me that she cleans houses. She also mentioned that she and her husband had been homeless for about 3 months a few years ago and that going through that experience had given her some insight into the depression and anxiety homeless cats and dogs must feel. My conversation with this woman made me realize that we often think we know about issues because we’ve studied and read up on them but when you actually work with and for people (or animals) who are directly affected by those issues, it definitely enriches your perspective.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 61.8 million people, or 26.4 % of the population, volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2007 and September 2008. Women volunteered more than men in all age groups and educational levels and people age 35-44 were more likely to volunteer while those in their early 20’s were less likely to volunteer than any other age group. Married people tend to volunteer more than single people and parents volunteer more than people without children.
(www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.nr0.htm)
Americans are always quick to pitch in and volunteer their services when crises strike. We see this whenever there is a natural disaster and that’s one of the reasons hundreds of thousands of people streamed into campaign offices during the last presidential election. Democrats finally felt "in crisis" and felt compelled to actively participate in the political process by manning phone banks, canvassing neighborhoods, registering people to vote, and working at the polls on election day. It’s important for Americans to step up when they are needed during emergencies and it’s wonderful to see the results of those efforts. However, this kind of engagement is needed all of the time – not only during urgent situations. If we remain engaged (even a little bit) all of the time, crisis situations are less likely to erupt and they will be easier to manage when they do occur.
When the subject of volunteering comes up, people often see how the organization or the "cause" is helped by the effort but they don’t always see how the individual gains from the experience. I work with college students and we are constantly telling them that volunteer jobs will help them learn and hone skills that will benefit them as much as those acquired in a paying job. This advice would apply to anybody else, too. I’ve served on numerous search committees and the volunteer experience on a candidate’s resume can be considered as important as the educational or work experience they have. If a candidate’s volunteer experience is relevant to the job for which they are applying and they can articulate the significance of that experience, it may not matter that they have no other related work history.
If you are considering a career change but are unsure if your prospective field is right for you, one of the easiest ways to find out is through volunteering in the desired field. For instance, I am a long way from retirement – but, because I love animals, I think I would like my retirement job to be pet-related. (Let’s face it, those of us who will be retiring in the next 20+ years, will need to have a "retirement job.") One of the reasons I decided to volunteer at an animal shelter is that I wanted to see if it was really something I could do. Would I be able to handle hours and hours of cleaning litter boxes and picking up dog poop if the animals were not mine? My job at the shelter has provided me with an education that I would not have received anywhere else and nothing compares to the feeling you have when a cat you’ve been working with for months (and have grown to love) finally gets adopted.
In tough economic times, non-profit organizations will see a decline in financial donations but most of them value "human capital" just as much. Without a doubt, our physical help can be every bit as important as our financial generosity in advancing social justice. Many of us were raised to look out for others and not just ourselves. Our paying jobs may not give us the opportunity to help others but volunteering does. If you’re feeling bad because you’re not able to contribute to programs, organizations, schools, your church, your PBS station or whatever – check with them to see if they need volunteers. Helping them fulfill their mission through your labor can be just as important to them (and more rewarding to you) as writing that $20 check.
Volunteering in the U.S.