Unabashed Volunteer

Volunteering is what I do. I proudly and unabashedly enjoy being a volunteer. I have been a volunteer all my life, but now I claim it as central to my life.

I have long been fascinated by volunteerism and often wonder why people choose to do what they do. Although I did not realize it at the time, I grew up in a small rural community that would never have functioned without volunteers in churches, the school, the library, farm organizations, and youth groups. My parents volunteered in many ways, as did most adults that I knew.

One of my fondest memories of volunteering as a kid was planting white pine tree seedlings at a newly designated county park near our farm. Over the years, I never drove by the park without marveling at what my volunteer efforts on one Saturday morning as a 4-H member had yielded as the trees flourished in the park.

 In my first job as a County 4-H Youth Development Agent, I had volunteers who had been 4-H leaders continuously starting long before I was born. Year after year after year. Those men and women inspired me eventually to write my PhD dissertation about volunteerism and what motivates people. I found to no great surprise that most volunteering was a combination of wanting to make a difference in a community, to associate with like-minded others, and to have some “say” in how organizations operated.

Volunteering comes in many forms. It can be doing something structured on a regular basis such as being a 4-H leader or having a regular weekly shift as a “weed warrior” in the park. It can be making donations. It can be informal such as helping a sick friend by bringing food. It can be serving as an officer or committee member for an organization. It can be helping once a year with a community event.

To me, volunteering means giving of my time and resources to causes that I believe in. The rewards of volunteering are intrinsic but not totally altruistic. Volunteering is not selfless for me. It brings happiness and satisfaction and has had collateral benefits like making new friends and learning fresh ways of thinking.

Volunteering also resonates with the Buddhist and Hinduism ideas of karma. In the Christian tradition, I also believe that volunteers “reap what they sow.” I don’t give so I can get, but I think that investing as much good into the world as possible is significant.

Volunteerism is not uniquely American, but it sets us apart from some other places in the world. In 1831, French political scientist, Alexis de Tocqueville, visited the United States and wrote about the broader workings of American society, including the American tendency toward volunteerism. He noted that volunteering links people together in common causes and enables us to see and appreciate each other’s humanity. Volunteering for me is what makes America great. It embodies kindness and common bonds.

When people ask me why I moved to Estes Park, I have many reasons. At the top of the list, however, is that I wanted a second career as a volunteer, a Volunteer in the Park (VIP) in Rocky Mountain National Park. I love volunteering at the park, and I want to help others enjoy the park passionately, safely, and with an environmental mindfulness. I don’t always know if I make a difference, but I have to trust that I do and that I am being of service to something bigger than myself.

The compensation for volunteering became evident to me two years ago. I was volunteering on a late spring morning with three other volunteers at Rainbow Curve in Rocky Mountain National Park. Trail Ridge Road was temporarily closed because of an overnight snowstorm. Our job was to talk to people who were parked and waiting for the road to open, and to answer questions about the park. Some people were disappointed and frustrated, and our task was to clarify and update folks on the situation. As the road was about to be opened, a visitor walked up to me and said, “Thank you. This place is beautiful, but the smiles of the volunteers are equally as beautiful.” That was my reward for being an unabashed volunteer!