Because We Need the Eggs
Copyright © 2011 by Primary Key Technologies, Inc. and brought to you by YourVolunteers.
December 5, 2011 is International Volunteer Day and I just have a quick thought (and my apologies to Woody Allen for adapting his joke from Annie Hall).
A volunteer manager walks into her psychiatrist’s office and says, “Doc, my volunteer’s crazy. He thinks he’s a chicken.” The doctor says, “Well, why don’t you turn him in?” The volunteer manager says, “I would, but I need the eggs.”
As many of you know, working with volunteers can be crazy. Without a paycheck, some do not place a high value on punctuality, and some are just watching the clock as they fulfill the volunteer requirements of their school or other program. Why do we work with volunteers? Because the world depends on those who are on the other end of the volunteer spectrum. Even after having worked with so many programs over the years, I am still amazed by the dedication of people who are not driven by financial reward or by glory or by the thought that the volunteer work is a stepping stone toward a destination. What I’ve learned most over these years is that there are millions of caring people in this world doing more things for their communities than you can imagine. Whether they are driven by their religious beliefs, their social needs, or their school’s requirements, volunteers are a reminder to all of us cynics that there are still plenty of good people doing good work on this planet. Let’s take this one day out of the year to stop complaining about a volunteer showing up late or surfing the net when they should be working and take a moment to imagine our world without them.
Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
