Volunteering Can Be A Double Edged Sword
"There's nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer". Those words were uttered by James Doolittle hours before the Doolittle raid launched it's attack on Japan after the attack at Pearl Harbor.
Image Source: cute-calendar.com
I don't mean to belittle volunteers with what I am about to write, but I've been both blessed and stung by being a volunteer.
For a little background, I feel tremendous satisfaction in giving my time to worthy causes. Especially since I don't have lot of spare change sitting around to give, I often will join special projects and initiatives that I think benefit the right people. I've volunteered for Veterans, Habitat for Humanity, Animal Shelters, Arts and Crafts Organizations, Orphanages, and the Boy Scouts of America.
Out of those listed above, the Boy Scouts of America is my "organization of choice". I grew up in a family of Eagle Scouts, earned Eagle Scout myself, then went on to be Assistant Scoutmaster, Committee Chair, Merit Badge Counselor, Scoutmaster, Order of The Arrow Chapter Adviser, and District Vice Chair of Operations. It is only natural for adults to volunteer in the Boy Scouts (or Girl Scouts, for that matter) when their kids are involved. They want to stay engaged.
Only I don't have any kids, and therein lies the problem. Like a lot of organizations, it works best when there is a robust support group to draw ideas from and divide the tasks among volunteers to make it happen. Events take coordination and planning to make sure all angles are covered. Yet it seems like most parents want to drop off their kids at the meeting and call it good. THIS IS NOT A BABYSITTING SERVICE.
Why should a person with no children be more involved in the programming than the parent? I'm a volunteer, this is not my job. I am not a teacher in a union hired by the local school district. If I were a parent, I wouldn't necessarily want a group of volunteers dictating where I need to be and what my kid will be doing on any given weekend, anyway. But that is what happens.
So that is why I consider it a double edged sword. I (and a lot of other volunteers) put a lot of sweat and tears into the program to benefit the kids. But when a new project or event comes up, it is the same people stepping up to volunteer their time and energy. This leads to burn-out, which leads to fewer volunteers, and then it leads to no program. Then who suffers? The kids, because the BSA is a fine program and teaches a lot of valuable life skills.
So this is my plea. If your kids are involved in a sport, or in a Scouting organization...learn more about what you can do to help. Offer to help...even if only once in awhile. You would be doing me and the other volunteers a great service.
I was rather upset by an official who hinders the work I do for HIS organization because he's too arrogant to comply with a simple request. It makes me feel like not volunteering my time to have him throw a wrench into the smoothly-running machine that I helped create. If only these knuckleheads paid a little more attention to what the volunteers do for them, they would understand that we are not asking out of stupidity, but from a reasoned and well-thought-out plan. We have the experience and expertise to make their program run smoothly and they want to interfere just because they are someone special and feel they can break the rules. Well, go ahead Mr. special... break the rules and do the job yourself!
People can be so selfish and self-centered. They don't appreciate what they have until its gone!
That's another aspect of it that I never wrote about in my little rant. Yes the "professionals" can certainly get in the way as much as they can help things along. Sometimes you'll get your little Napoleons...your little "Empire Builders" who need to do things their way. They are a pain in the butt and usually are just looking for a feather in their cap. Or the leaders that are involved that want to do it a certain way because its the only way they've seen it done and don't know any different or are afraid of change. All those things can hurt. But at the same time, it hurts because there aren't enough people volunteering to stand up to it and voice the reason for change. There is power in numbers. A Troop committee can oust a Scoutmaster if he is leading the troop in an undesirable direction. You just need the numbers.
In many cases, it is numbers that speak the loudest. Regardless of how valid a point a single person may have, the people in power don't want to listen because it takes effort to make a change. However, if a lot of people complain (even if their motives are not logical or reasonable), change will be made for fear of losing face. It is a strange world we live in, where emotions trump logic.
So on that note... How can the masses of Minnows use that knowledge to influence the emotions of those who control this platform so that our posts get more visibility?
Well, I can only think that minnows need to start supporting other minnows. It's hard because people resteem and upvote those posts in which they know the authors pull in a lot of money/visibility. It's a slow process...I know based on being on here about a month and only having 120 followers at this point. You need to just be slow and steady, then hope your followers support you like you support them. At this point, I guess it is kind of an unwritten rule.
I totally agree with your post I like it by the way thanks a lot for sharing and keep on posting ;)
Thanks very much! It's been gnawing at my mind for some time...just had to vent!
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Thanks for the resteem @mattnash!