It’s easy for most of us to fall into a pattern: work, family and perhaps a hobby or two. Those elements can add up to a busy life, with evenings and weekends taken up with grocery shopping and other errands. If you have children there are endless sports and arts events requiring your services as chauffeur and cheering section. Older parents have their own set of needs.
All these demands on your time are important, of course. But what about the community in which you live?
What do you value most about it? Historic sites? Leafy parks? Community events?
Perhaps it’s time to put your business skills to work to enhance those community features.
Volunteering, even a couple of hours a week, can make a huge difference to the success of local organizations or locations. It also offers the potential to make a significant difference in your own life.
Many volunteer opportunities are project based: assisting at a local community fair, joining the garden cleanup crew at a park or taking a shelter dog for a walk. In each case, you make a difference, and in each case, you walk away with the knowledge that you’ve made a difference.
If the opportunity exists to enlist children or other family members, even better. Kids learn by example and helping to build a stronger community is a lesson that can last a lifetime. They – and you – will also learn that how you spend your time can be a choice rather than an obligation.
On a more prosaic level, the skills you offer are usually more than offset by the skills you gain – skills that can be put to good use on a resume and in the workplace.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2013, volunteers contributed more than 1.9 billion hours to volunteer activities. These hours matter. They’re valued by the community, by employers and by the volunteers themselves. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to try community engagement, perhaps this is the year to start.
To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your community can do for you. Ask what you can do for your community.”
Karen Mortfield
Communications & Stakeholder Relations
The Osborne Group provides interim and project management and consulting services for clients in the not-for-profit, public and private sectors. All Osborne Group Principals have senior-level knowledge and significant experience leading major projects. Since 1993, their executive leadership skills have helped more than 1,000 clients achieve key priorities and sustainable results. Learn more about us and our other talented Principals at www.osborne-group.com
