Volunteer

The Lesson

Last month the famous 7-foot-7-inch NBA star Manute Bol passed away at the age of 47. Manute came to the U.S. from warn torn Sudan and was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1985. He enjoyed a 10 year career on the courts where he twice led the league in blocked shots and became the only NBA player to finish his career with more blocked shots (2,086) than points scored (1,599). But, this lesson isn’t about what Manute did on the court; it’s about what he did off the court – he gave back. In fact, Manute is widely admired for donating his NBA salary to charity.

But you don’t have to donate your salary to charity in order to give back and contribute to those in need. All you need is a couple of hours and a desire to get your hands dirty.

A few months ago I was able to contribute an afternoon to Meals from the Heartland. This program gets people together to package meals for starving people around the world. It was a very humbling and rewarding experience. When my wife and I arrived at the event we were placed in a team with six other individuals and our team was tasked with the challenge of seeing how many meals we could package during our two hour shift. To ensure the process was as efficient as possible, each person in the group was assigned a very specific task and for two hours we scooped, filled, sealed, and boxed several hundred meals. During my shift, I had the opportunity to meet and visit with the other members of the team and hear everyone share a little bit about what motivated them to get involved. It seems that many people just wanted to be like Manute – they just wanted to give back. And, in 2009 Meals from the Heartland volunteers packaged more than 4 million meals!

On June 16, 2010 the Des Moines Register ran a front page article titled, “Iowans’ volunteerism ranks No. 2 in the nation.” As I read the article I couldn’t help but smile knowing that my family and I helped contribute to the 109 million hours that were volunteered in 2009. Do the math and you’ll quickly find out that Iowans’ volunteer efforts are equivalent to a company with 52,400 full time employees!

The Challenge

Not only is volunteering good for the soul, it’s good for the career too. In fact, a 2006 Deloitte/Points of Light Volunteer IMPACT Survey found that 63 percent of volunteers believed that volunteering had a positive impact on their career. That’s why this week’s challenge is for you to find a way to give back. Thankfully, there are endless opportunities: The United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Make-a-Wish Foundation, your local soup kitchen, or even your local hospital. If you need additional ideas, you might consider checking with a local church in your community or visiting VolunteerMatch online at www.volunteermatch.org. If you can’t find an event to participate in this week, at least sign up for something and get it on your calendar.

Here are a few ideas to get the most out of your volunteer experience:

• Make it a family event by involving your spouse, kids, parents, and siblings.
• Team up with coworkers to make it a company event.
• Volunteer to a cause that you really care about (or maybe one you’ve never even heard of).
• Set a goal of earning the President’s Volunteer Service Award (Yep, straight from the White House. For more information, please visit www.presidentialserviceawards.gov).

The Reflection

1. What did you learn about yourself this week as a result of completing this challenge?
2. How can you continue to benefit from this challenge in the future?
3. What was your biggest takeaway?
4. What positive changes could you make going forward in order to maximize the benefit of this challenge?
5. How would continual practice of this challenge change your life?

Be sure to give back this week!

Gary Jensen
Editor | collector mentor