Why Volunteer?

This is a short introduction to this blog.

I have had an on-off again discussion with a friend about volunteering.  I kept trying to get him to donate his time to Habitat for Humanity.  I have not been successful.

It occurred to me that I have spent so many years volunteering sporadically here and there, that the notion of volunteering for something was as natural to me as breathing.  It might not be that way for other people. It might not be that way for my friend.  So I decided that showing him and others the benefits of donating your time and experience, through this blog, would be a better way to get people motivated.

I'll be first writing about how I started volunteering at the Smithsonian Institution while I was in high school.  I'll also write about my volunteer experiences now, as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member here in my town, and all of the groups I've worked with in between.

I'm hoping that I can demonstrate that you don't have to know anything to volunteer.  It's almost always really easy, and the benefits are astounding.  I'm hoping to get my younger friends motivated to donate their time and energy to something of which they can feel a part.  I'm also hoping my older, retired friends will consider volunteering as a way to transmit their knowledge to subsequent generations.  I'll visit volunteer sites and document volunteering in action.  I'll also be posting links and websites that will point folks in the right direction.  Lastly, I hope to share other people's experiences and hopefully be able to document someone's first attempt at giving back to their community.

More to come!  Stay tuned.