Back in 2011 when DK first programmed into the site the capacity for publishing-groups, kosak StateOfGrace created one, writing that it was:
…dedicated to providing information about volunteering to those who may be interested in giving back [to their communities] but who are unsure about the wide variety of opportunities out there...
...information and inspiration in diaries from the many kosaks directly involved, and those who have personally witnessed what can be achieved together by first-person, real-world, sleeves-rolled-up elbow-grease right where we live.
In a way, many kosaks like these are working at least two jobs:
...one that pays the bills and another that they do because they feel an obligation to help a particular cause, or because it’s something that they find rewarding and fulfilling in a way that their paying job is not.
[Or] they have free time due to being retired from the workforce, temporarily unemployed, or still enrolled in school.
...Regardless of the kind of volunteer work you do or why you do it, this group is interested in [those stories]✱ ...to share our own experiences as volunteers (the joys, the pitfalls, the unexpected lessons, etc.) and the organizations/groups/causes we work for, and to answer questions others may have about our work.
✱link to her group’s diary list, 2011-2014
In recent years, not least this disastrous weather season, we’ve all seen inspiring volunteerism, and taken heart from the strength and resolve of ordinary people like ourselves even when it’s not a win straight out the gate but a holding action longterm that’s heroism all on its own. StateOfGrace appears absent from DK currently, so we can’t get new stories and reports at her group, but we still need them, and more…
Because, right where we live, real-world rural and urban environments, people, animals —and yes politics— still need our talents, skills and energies.
And we still need rewarding friendships, group-to-group alliances and relationships, and the daily-life hope and courage that comes from hands-on proof, right before our very eyes, that each individual can make a difference for the better right where we live. ...a difference spreading beyond us, hand to hand, neighborhood to neighborhood, state to state, country to country.
A severely disabled person myself in recent years, I can no longer be out there to volunteer, and can’t begin to say how much I miss it. A few diaries and this new group are what’s left, a start in carrying StateOfGrace’s torch for the next league forward, passing it along to you. As she wrote two years even earlier about her own volunteerism (including dish-washing and pootie rescue!!):
...It may seem counter-intuitive 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…
...Americans are always quick to pitch in and volunteer their services when crises strike. We see this whenever there is a natural disaster … 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.
This is a win-win scenario all along - look at personal benefit:
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…
And in tough economic times when personal financial resources are strained to the breaking point..
...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…
...Our paying jobs [or other conditions we can’t escape] may not give us the opportunity to help others [by giving monetary donations] 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 check.
In addition to the stories in StateOfGrace’s group, this new group is for more diaries/articles, past and present, on real-world volunteering, to collect as resource/archive, and as current reportage. For readers of this mission-statement who’ve written on volunteerism in DK and would like the material republished here, you can link your diary[s] in comments below, or kosmail the links to the group, and/or ask to join the group so you can queue them. Volunteerism is one tag whose back-history I’ll review in a day or three; related tags are How-To-Activism and OnwardAfterTheMarch (the January Women’s Marches follow-up action projects), and there are surely more we can tell each other about as we find them.
For kosaks with community volunteer stories yet to tell, I hope you will, and kosmail or queue those here when you publish. How did you decided to volunteer your services, since that first step can be a big one, and what ways did you find out about volunteer opportunities in your community, and how’s it going so far?
(You can use Where the Kogs Are: Links to the 200+ DK Local & Political Groups by State & Beyond,2011-Sep2017 to find kosak groups in your area or region to ask to republish your diaries there, too.)
What advice would volunteers today suggest to beginners, and to returners who may find things different now than in past years? We do all need to pace ourselves and be sensible in our efforts, if we want to make it across the long haul. Daily Kos is a valuable place to read up on what’s going on in the real world. Let’s be out there, too, those of us who can. Then come back and tell us about it.
We’re eager to hear. Maybe more of us can learn from you how to get out there again and help make the world a better place, inch by inch, row by row.