Volunteerism: It’s A Social Thing!

by Becky Lunders, teamWorks

It’s tough to get to know people these days. We have self-imposed dividers all around us: cubicles at work, automatic garage doors at home (you can go days without seeing your neighbor!), and social networking (which makes us feel like we are close to people from behind the computer). Thank God for volunteer opportunities. They connect us to our co-workers, neighbors and friends. The social aspect is one of the main reasons people volunteer.

I experienced this first-hand with my son’s All-Star baseball team. You take a dozen eight year olds and put them on a team. The families are along for the ride, which will include a month of practices and then a month of weekend tournaments. We knew about the commitment, but not the depth of the experience. I’m the Team Mom, a responsibility I proudly accepted. Little did I know, this would be one of my most rewarding volunteer experiences yet. The All-Stars is like the Dream Team. Not just the players, but the parents, too. I was lucky – I had a group of committed people willing to do their part. Everyone pitched in. We had teamwork from the get go.

Hosting a baseball tournament means field prep, weeding, cleaning, dragging, chalking, and of course, manning the Snack Shack for 10+ hours a day. The dads divided up the field duties, while the moms handled the Snack Shack. In the course of filling shifts, I got to know everyone. I was encouraged that they don’t run the other way when they saw me coming! Before you know it, the schedule was filled. We’ve turned the sub-standard bathrooms into pseudo powder rooms. The faded bleachers got a fresh coat of paint. Different parents took on different projects, each making their contribution.

This team approach allowed the work to get done without being overwhelming for any one person. Like with any volunteer project, you divide it into little parts and it’s not such a big job. Plus, it’s a social thing. This group of volunteers actually looked forward to being together! The chore of painting the bleachers turned into a Paint Party. The field prep work became Dad’s Night Out. Bottom line… we bonded, as most committees, board or groups of volunteers do when given the opportunity.

I was blessed to have such a great group of people. Something magical happens when you volunteer together. You get to know people on a deeper level, and it cements friendships that might not have been, had it not been for that experience. When I wear my All-Star t-shirt around town, and people ask about the experience, I’ll be the first to share how much I got out of it (wait – this was suppose to be about my son!). Thank God for volunteerism. I might be short on friends otherwise.