I am a Volunteer Coordinator.
A lot of people are confused by that title. First, many ask how I pay my bills if I don’t get paid for working. I smile and gently explain that the words “volunteer coordinator” are an actual title and job description, not an indication of a salary range. I go on to explain…
I’m actually a little like an electrician. Electricians help create conduits through which energy can pass. Often we use this energy to create light. It takes a simple gesture to enlighten an entire room…one simple flick of a finger. And the best part is that you don’t necessarily have to be the one flipping the switch in order to benefit from the action.
My job is to help create conduits through with human light…time, talents, compassion…can pass freely and pour out onto others who happen to be near. I help people see the best parts of themselves and identify the energy they have inside already. I also attempt to kindle a desire to share it with others. In other words, I encourage them to flip the switch. If you have a hundred people flipping a switch at once…that creates a lot of light.
And I love it.
And here is an example of why.
Every year United Way highlights their campaign with an organized day of service that focuses on mobilizing a community to make a difference in the lives and well being of others in their community who may be facing more difficult circumstances then their own. Usually this involves setting up many different sites of service, and matching the interests of corporate teams to the best project for their needs.
This year was different.
We set up a single site in partnership with the school district in Bowling Green. We were going to focus on Ridge School. My 2 youngest brothers spent several years within its walls. Because it will be more financially reasonable, the school is closing at the end of this year after nearly 100 years of service to students. It is a small school, with only 6 classes, and the students there have the highest percentage of free and reduced lunch tickets in the district. Many of their families are at a deep social and economic disadvantage. The beautiful building has been a central part of the neighborhood, and those who have known it to be so are worried what will happen to the space, to the grounds, to their lives…when that building is no longer a school.
When we approached the superintendent, we had other ideas about education focused service, but she asked us to focus on this little piece of land…to show these kids that they still meant something, to assure the neighborhood that someone was paying attention to their worries, to show a community that even at the end of an era…kindness still matters. We had an entire neighborhood of people who were craving light.
So we asked for help…and 130 people answered the call. There were students, professors, office workers, truck drivers and attorneys…working side by side. And what a difference they made!
They made a difference on the outside;
Dozens of people from local businesses and students from the university carried wheelbarrows full of mulch around the 2 acre lot, spreading it thick under the trees to improve the esthetic quality of the property. Several men and women worked against the chilling wind completed brick terracing by the concrete steps to stave off erosion. Still others got down on their knees and painted four square and hopscotch on the pavement out back in bright yellow. A few men built bookshelves that conscientious students then stained. They also built a new game…a dodge ball arena of sorts that was the brainchild of the principal.
They made a difference on the inside;
The cut out and put together dozens of projects to support teachers. Some were activities to be sent home to encourage the parent/teacher/ child connection. Others were informational packets. I smiled as I watched 3 attorneys sit and chat while cutting out raindrops, shamrocks and pumpkins (I assume for a clever calendar in some classroom). Many college students migrated to the art room in the basement where educational and encouraging pieces of art were being completed. I watched members of the BGSU hockey team carefully outline and paint a sunshine and dancing children. I watched a bank worker sit by her sister and her 3 year old niece (who came as an assistant) to paint a lion. And they all smiled, and chatted as they worked together and planned. I loved seeing a little army of men, dusters and cleaning solution in hand, follow a diminutive librarian from room to room as they carefully and thoroughly cleaned every computer and desk. And they were smiling.
They made a difference in the hearts of students and teachers;
Throughout the day they sat side by side with these little ones…reading, playing games, reviewing, interacting. A group of 18 partnered up with an entire class and rotated through math games. The teacher commented…”Do you know what a difference it would make in the lives of these kids if we could do this every day?”
Someone else was working on counting money. One little boy stopped me as I walked by. He pointed at his “tutor” and said, “She said I’m so smart!” He hid his face in his hands and smiled “Tell her to give me a hard one! Tell her!”
One young black man smiled as he told me about the smart 4th graders who taught him a game. They wanted to know if he was a football player. He told them he wasn’t, but that he KNEW some football players. “So you’re like their water boy?” We all laughed.
The teachers smiled when we passed them. The principal hugged me 4 times, the superintendent twice.
And those bright and sweet faces made a difference to all of us;
After lunch, all of the students gathered to read poems and share thanks. A small group of little ones sang a song about being thankful…thankful we were there. Not a person wasn’t smiling, and tears escaped the eyes of many. They made us placemats with sprinkled with colorful pictures and “thank you’s” . Many volunteers took one to remember.
An older gentleman, a professor who was a leading authority in his field and a mentor to many…as well as a father to Ridge School alumni…spent a good deal of the day interacting with what he described as “some pretty sharp 3rd graders”. They worked together once in the morning. When he came back to the classroom a few hours later, the ones he had met and interacted with earlier responded with unmasked glee to his presence and I later found them sitting in a circle in the library reading and talking together.
I walked past a woman reading to small blond girl. She was dirty, and she smelled…and she was very, very quiet. The tutor stopped me. “I’ve been working with this sweet little girl,” She nodded in the direction of the child. “Tell me about her family. We want to help.” I didn’t know the child and I directed her to the office. I found out later the company the woman worked for wanted to adopt a few of the neediest families to help meet their basic needs…as well as help pay for their fifth graders to go to their special learning camp. The principal cried. He had been taking money out of his own pockets to buy shoes and other essential for these children.
I admired this woman because in that moment she embodied the purpose of the day; she saw a problem and instead of passing judgment on what was wrong with that child or the parents and assuming it was deficit on the part of one or the other …she perceived a need that wasn’t being met and offered assistance.
A Day of Caring is about that essential truth; People are often victims of their circumstances…not knowing what to do because they simply can’t see stumbling around in the darkness of their turmoil. The kindness shown by those who share their most valuable resources…their time, their talents and indeed, their compassion …enable those who have been downtrodden by the difficulties of life to find the capability that was in them all along.
They only need to be lifted… to be given a little light.
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