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By Pete Phair

I have a couple of good friends who spend many weekends every year maintaining their respective sections of the Appalachian Trail. Another just received a coveted Volunteer of the Year Award from an organization she has done some fantastic work for. My friend Bo drives for hours to manage ski races all over the Northeast and my brother, God Bless him, travels all over the world as a volunteer for a group that accredits high schools. Just this past year alone, I volunteered for six different organizations between January and December. Look around you- you are surrounded by volunteers whether you realize it or not. And it seems that just about every one of them has a different reason for volunteering.

Part of my job requires that I try to figure out what compels people to volunteer. Why, for instance, would someone raising three young children, working forty plus hours each week and trying to maintain a semblance of a personal life want to give up a Saturday afternoon to stand behind a table for four hours? Why would someone offer their lunch hour two days a week to work on menial tasks that aren’t theirs to own? Why would a young woman trying to find employment in this current economy spend nearly an entire day each week as a volunteer in our office?

Some answers are straight forward- volunteering looks good on a resume`, it gets one out of the house and in some cases, volunteering helps to keep skill sets fresh. There are some volunteer scenarios that may result in personal perks while still others address intrinsic rewards we all need to feel good about ourselves. I suspect however, that there are a lot of underlying reasons that are not as obvious. Knowing those reasons should be able to help me with my recruiting efforts. But to find relevant answers to these questions, it seems I had to first ask – what are the reasons I volunteer?

Here’s what I came up with…
• Generally, I believe in the cause- passionately. Enough to drive me to action.
• Ultimately, the things I volunteer to do, better the lives of someone some way.
• Because it’s fun. Period.
• Volunteering helps me to feel less self-involved.
• I feel like I’m giving back to something.
• It involves me in a greater community.
• I get to meet new people.
• I want my daughter to see that volunteering is part of who we are as a family.
• It gives me a sense of accomplishment.
• I am part of a team working toward a common goal.
• I get to share my skills when I volunteer but just as important, sometimes I get to just do what I am told and not have to troubleshoot or make any decisions!

Let’s not forget that the reasons why people do not volunteer should be considered in our thinking too. Transportation, childcare and availability all play into the equation but so does philosophical alignment. A lot of our volunteers initially approach me to volunteer for WinterKids because they love to ski. That’s great but we do not necessarily need volunteers who ski. We need folks who want kids to get outside and be active in the winter time. Conversely, people who do not ski, or who are not active in the wintery outdoors, feel they have nothing to offer WinterKids. Au contraire! That’s why perception is another element in whether a program successfully recruits volunteers or not. Although your needs may be obvious to you and your co-workers, it may not always seem that way to potential volunteers
I suppose it all boils down to good matches. What would Abbott have been without Costello? Lewis without Clark? Sonny without Cher? Who can really say? But knowing how your organization’s volunteer needs match up with the audience you draw from is crucial to sustaining a successful program.
Thankfully, 110 people felt aligned enough with WinterKids to provide over 900 hours of volunteer service since last June. Without them, we would not have been able to do the work we do and whatever their reasons are for helping us, I am thankful and proud that they choose WinterKids as a volunteer opportunity. In a word, they are the Milli to our Vanilli…

Pete Phair is Outreach Coordinator at WinterKids and a featured blogger.

by Ann Swain

In all parts of our world, there are many people with the greatest desire to offer their expertise in a volunteer capacity. In preparing for retirement, I often ask the prospective retiree, ‘do you have a plan?’ If they don’t indicate a plan for their retirement, I will always suggest volunteering. However, there is a population in our world who may not have expertise in any particular area, but they truly have heart. They want to give back, but they don’t even know what to give back or how.

Our expectations of the ‘ideal volunteer’ may need to be rewritten. Our expectations may in fact, not be reality. It all depends on where we are in the world. The day a prospective volunteer walks in your door with the desire to ‘give back’, even if they don’t know what that really means, they may end up being one of the best volunteers you have ever had. They may not be able to read beyond a sixth grade level, or at all for that matter. But they have heart and desire to give to their community. It may have taken all their inner strength to walk through your door and offer themselves beyond what is comfortable. Look beyond your expectations and see.

Expectations and reality don’t always match, and that’s not a bad thing.

Ann Swain is a featured blogger and the Director of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Senior Companion Program.

By Josephine Cooper and Carl Lakari

Last month, we featured a blog from Project AWARE Coordinator, Carl Lakari. This month, we are featuring a letter from one of their youth volunteers, Josephine Cooper.

I want to share with you a letter from one grateful youth volunteer. Read it, find inspiration, share it with your networks … and please remember the potential that exists in our youth. Carl Lakari, Project AWARE Coordinator

Letter from Josephine Cooper, Age 15, Saco, Maine

Project AWARE is an organization that encourages young people to lead in their communities. For me it has done just that. When I joined the Project AWARE Players in 2005 it gave me a chance to use my creativity to better myself and others around me. I am given the opportunity to speak to young people and adults alike, about the importance of an alcohol and drug free lifestyle, and encourage natural highs, and making a difference.
This is my fifth year being a part of the Project AWARE Players. When I was in the sixth grade, I became the director of the Project AWARE Player Juniors. As a sixth grade student I was given the opportunity to write skits pertaining to issues that I was concerned about. Then, present them to students and adults in a creative and fun way. Throughout middle school, I continued to gain self-confidence and a feeling of leadership through the Project AWARE Players, which now serves to my benefit every day of my high school, and one-day adult life. I now provide artistic direction for the Project AWARE Players.
In the summer of 2008, an opportunity arose, which has proved one of the most influential and unexpected of my life. I attended the Project AWARE Summer Film Institute. There, I was able to use my love for film to make more of a difference than I would have ever dreamed. Another Project AWARE Players member and I created a one-minute PSA about the importance of parent role modeling. This is a topic, which affects everyone’s life, and isn’t sufficiently discussed. Several months after the PSA premiered, my partner and I were confronted with a proposition from Project AWARE, to make our PSA into a movie! After a year of planning, writing, casting, and a lot of learning, the shoot for the 30-minute film began. For a week and a half I, a high school student, got the opportunity of a professional director. I worked with a professional camera crew, and professional actors. Everything I had ever learned about leadership was put to the test. I blocked scenes, called action, and watched the magic of film come to life on the monitor.
Never before have I felt so proud. Not only did I get to direct, but I got to act as well, and prepare for the career I hope to someday pursue. I can’t think of a better experience than to be given the chance to not only wear the director’s hat, but that of a writer, producer, and actor as well. It was an exhilarating process, and amazing hands on experience. I became a leader of an entire film operation, all ultimately geared towards making a difference about an issue I feel is of great importance, while being supported by Project AWARE.
Not only have I learned a remarkable amount, and had such great opportunities from being a member of the Project AWARE Players, but I have also met some of the greatest people I could ever hope to encounter in one lifetime. Project AWARE has supplied me, since I was young, with role models. I have grown up with people to encourage me to make a difference, and follow whatever dreams I may have. Also, people to show me the importance of a drug and alcohol free life, and to teach me that there are so many wonderful things out there to spend my precious time doing, rather than wasting it with unhealthy decisions. To this day, I think back on all of the amazing people I would have never met without Project AWARE and the Players.
How many teenagers have the opportunity to speak to a room full of organization heads, and school faculty, about the issues they feel important? How many young people are given the chance to educate children about the importance of healthy choices? How many people in general learn to really be a leader, and express themselves in a creative and meaningful way? Thanks to Project AWARE, these are all things I can proudly say, I have done.

Josephine is one of many youth “volunteers” at Project AWARE .

Carl Lakari is the Project Aware Coordinator and a guest blogger.

By Elizabeth Cole

My nephew is going through the why phase. You know, the phase where you can’t go more than three minutes without some existential discussion?
“Auntie Liz, Why do ants live in the dirt?”
“Because they like to.”
“Why do they like to?”
“Well… It’s always the same temperature and it’s easy to dig in.”
“Why is it easy to dig?”
“Um… Well, because it’s softer than, say, concrete.”
“Why is it softer?”

For those of you who read this blog regularly, you may remember that I wrote last a piece last month introducing the concept of coaching. So why am I opening this post with an anecdote about domestic bliss, toddler style? Well, as it turns out, my nephew is preparing for a promising future as a volunteer manager.
Supervisors of volunteers who use a coaching model ask open-ended questions, helping their volunteers to discover answers and solutions on their own. As a “coach,” you will typically help your team members to solve problems, make better decisions, learn new skills, or otherwise progress in their role. Not every question should be treated as a coaching opportunity, but with a little coaching, your volunteers’ performance will improve dramatically.

One proven approach to coaching is the GROW model. GROW is an acronym standing for Goal - Current Reality - Options - Will. The model is a simple yet powerful framework for structuring a coaching session.

1. Establish the Goal: First, with your volunteer, you must define and agree the goal or outcome to be achieved. You should help your volunteer define a goal that is specific, measurable and realistic. In doing this, it is useful to ask questions like:
“How will you know that you have achieved that goal?”
“How will you know the problem is solved?”

2. Examine Current Reality: Too often, people try to solve a problem without fully considering their starting point and miss some of the information needed to reach the most effective solution. Useful coaching questions include:
“What is happening now?”
“What is the effect the result of that?”

3. Explore the Options: Help your volunteer generate as many good options as possible. By all means, offer your own suggestions. But let your volunteer start and do most of the talking. Typical questions used to establish the options are:
“What else could you do?”
“What are the benefits and downsides of each option?”

4. Establish the Will: Your final step as coach is to get you volunteer to commit to specific action. In so doing, you will help the volunteer establish his or her will and motivation. Useful questions:
“So what will you do now, and when?”
“What could prevent you moving forward?”
“And how will you overcome it?”

A great way to practice using the model is to address your own challenges and issues. When you are stuck with something, you can use the technique to coach yourself. By practicing, you will learn how to ask the most helpful questions. Write down some stock questions as prompts for future coaching sessions.

Elizabeth Cole is a guest blogger and an AmeriCorps VISTA at the Maine Commission for Community Service.

By Anne Schink, CVA

I recently taught a class for managers of volunteers and it was interesting to see who actually showed up for the class. We had an executive director (the only paid staff) of a local land trust, an office manager of a nonprofit that was almost entirely run by an all-volunteer board, a department director of a housing complex, an event planner from a local business development organization, a brand new staff member of an animal rescue organization, and three staff members of a large youth-serving organization. I point this out only as a reminder that who we define as a manager of volunteers varies widely from organization to organization. On the up side is the fact that organizations of all types and sizes recognize the importance of volunteers in achieving the organization’s mission.

Clearly no one job description would cover this disparate group of participants. Yet many of their concerns were the same. While they all expressed the desire to increase the effectiveness of their volunteer programs, their expectations about what these people would do and what kind of people they were trying to attract was all over the map. Most of them had a mental picture in their heads about who was ‘typical’ for their organization. It took some stretching for them to see that they might have to re-think their vision if they were going to attract tomorrow’s volunteers.

In a recent Webinar I attended, the presenter said that tomorrow’s volunteers wanted the four F’s in their volunteer assignments—Flexible, Fast, Friendly, Focused. That goes for Board members, volunteers functioning as external consultants, behind the scenes administrative support, or direct service positions. No one, in any generation, is signing on for life these days. Flexible means that the position is shaped to match the volunteer’s schedule, not the other way around. Fast means a quick response to their initial inquiry and a quick turnaround in placing them. If you don’t catch them the first time they try to reach you, they will go elsewhere. Friendly means that you need to welcome them, make them feel part of your organization, and give them a meaningful role working with others. Focused means deadlines, time limits, and real measurable outcomes.

This may fly in the face of more traditional ways of creating a volunteer program, but it is a reminder that this is an ever-changing landscape. Having clearly defined job descriptions is the foundation of a sound volunteer program, but the experienced, adaptive manager of volunteers will make the changes required to build a creative program that meets a wide variety of interests and personalities.

Anne Schink, CVA is a Consultant in Volunteer Management and a featured blogger.

By Martin J Cowling

In a few weeks time, the Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism will convene under the theme: Compassion-Action-Change.

As I prepare my presentations for the conference, I have been reflecting on these three words and particularly the word: Compassion. What is its meaning? What does it mean for our not for profits? For our communities? Our nations?

In Nick Hornby’s 2001 novel “How to Be Good”, he tells of a character who decides to be “good” to the utmost extent. His goodness becomes sickening and suffocating. This is not the sort of compassion we are looking for.

What is the compassion we are looking for?

Compassion is not a term we often hear in business or government. Even in the not for profit sector, it is not always welcome. The word seems to cut across much of how we are told that we “should” behave in these fields. We are told that we are supposed to be “tough, unyielding, undeterred, competitive and focused.” As a result, compassion, for many sounds like a soft or as passive word.

Compassion is the human emotion prompted by the pain of others. The feeling often gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another’s suffering and therefore ultimately to altruism. The basis of compassion is therefore: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.”

This is a value therefore that is fundamental to our societies. Far from being a passive word, compassion implies strength, courage and determination to act. It is definitely neither a sickening or suffocating term.

There are many many volunteers across the globe who show compassion through their own lives.

I was recently visiting a couple who have taken in children into their home. Children abandoned by parents who are unable to care for them. This couple opened up their home and their lives to children who need love, care, good modeling and an education.

In the severe fires that swept Australia in early 2009, volunteers took in and protected Koalas that had been burnt by the fires. In New Orleans volunteers took in the cats and dogs that were stranded in that city.

Compassion drives “Doctors Without Borders” volunteers in Africa operate on people impacted by natural disasters and war, often under the most terrible of conditions. These examples are compassion in action.

When people come to us to volunteer, motivated by the compassion they feel to a person/people/cause or issue, how do we deal with this?

Do they find an organization motivated by compassion? Or do they experience something which undermines that compassion. When people hear about your board meetings, attend your internal meetings or read your internal emails, memos and notices, do they see an organization that’s very soul is one of compassion?

Do they find organizations that help people live out this compassion that they feel? I was working with a charitable organization where one volunteer said to me “I wish we treated each other as well so we treat the clients”. That’s an indictment on that not for profit and its culture.

Do incoming volunteers find organizations that reward compassion? In most volunteer based organizations we reward the volunteers for the number of hours, they complete or how many years they have served. Do we ever reward volunteers on how they live out the values of our organization? Is the “Volunteer of the Year” chosen because they turned up a lot or because their life exemplifies the values wee are seeking?

Our volunteer involving organizations were generally started by people with compassion. How do we maintain that compassion in the future legions of people who follow? Three simple ways?
1. Lets talk about our values including the compassion of the founders
2. Let us deliver our services with those values
3. Let us reward these values

I would be interested in your feedback on how you do this and how we can support each other to do this.

Martin J Cowling is the CEO of People First -Total Solutions and the Keynote Speaker at the 2009 Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism.

By Suzanne Gastaldo

Successful management of volunteers is key to securing funding. What better way to justify your bottom line. We employ a mere 2.5 full-time positions, but oversee 140 volunteers who successfully implement our mission, fundraise, strategize and direct our organization. Prove you can manage volunteers successfully - audit their time and document it. This type of data tracking and reporting - total annual volunteer hours gives your organization credibility whether you are standing in front of a group to ask for funds or to include in a grant appeal.

Next, understand that no two volunteers are alike. A volunteer over 67 years old has a different agenda then a 25 year old. Maybe your organization has traditionally used all retirees as ours had. The historical demographics of our Literacy Volunteers have been graduate degree/professionals that have retired in Maine and want to give to our communities. They have the time, commitment and even resources to supplement the organization. Well they are the perfect volunteers…..so do you turn away the 30 year old with children in school? Rethink the profile. Restructure your organization to capitalize on available volunteers of all ages.

A balance turns out to be just what is needed. The younger volunteers often offer shorter stints, but they offer new technological ideas, they are sometimes more suited to certain learners. We are offering them training, career experience, and incite into the world of illiteracy. They can develop a new passion for adults who can’t read. We are helping to create a new society. Think globally. The younger unsettled volunteer can require more time but their gains in association with your organization are so valuable. Their next step may be more insightful and more meaningful for the next target of their volunteerism. When you have a great organization that is well run, organized, and successful – it benefits everyone to share the experience. You may be surprised with the unexpected results.

Lastly, volunteers need to be empowered. Allow the volunteer time to create his or her unique experience within your organization. It is when they are free from constraints and rules coupled with appreciation and support for their individuality that they develop as a volunteer who may surprise everyone in the direction they bring your organization. Successful managers keep an open mind. Do you want to learn more about our organization? www.tricountyliteracy.org

Suzanne Gastaldo is the Adult Literacy Volunteers Program Director for Sagadahoc, North Cumberland, and Lincoln Counties in Maine and is a guest blogger.

By Heather Banester Bassett

Remember being told, throughout your high school years - “Get Involved”, “The more well rounded you are the more likely you’ll be accepted into college.” Well, this remains to be true even throughout your working years. When applying to colleges, high school students are trying to set themselves apart from “the other college applicants.” In the working world, especially today, people are finding that they are to set themselves apart from “the other job applicants.” So, what does it mean to “Get Involved” in the working world? Just like in high school, volunteerism is one way to “Get Involved.”

Maine has experienced an increase in unemployment over the past year and with this comes an increase in people competing for the same jobs. Employers have seen a dramatic increase in applicants. The competition amongst job applicants is fierce in most cases. This increase in the unemployed and increase in competition over limited jobs then leads into an increase in the period of time in which a person remains in a job search. This period in which people remain in a job search results in gaps in employment history.

I reached out to my Maine Human Resources Network and asked employers to share some thoughts on volunteerism and the role it plays with job applicants. Here is what I heard.

Although most employers understand that the current economy has caused a majority of the unemployment and a longer unemployment period for some, it does impress employers to see that people remain “Involved” during their period of unemployment. Beverly Frizzell-MacCallum, Human Resources Officer at Androscoggin Bank replied “I would view it as a positive if someone were to use that down time as a chance to get involved with volunteer work. What a great way to show that you made the proverbial lemonade!” Krista Thurlow, Branch Manager at Bonney Staffing Center in Biddeford, Maine also shared insight on filling gaps in one’s employment history on their resume, “…I am always more impressed by someone who can tell me they have been volunteering, rather than ’sitting home, or not quite sure’ what they have been doing the past 10 months (they have been out of work.)” As for setting yourself apart from the other applicants, Lisa Janelle, Vice President of Human Resources at Sebasticook Valley Hospital mentioned “…a person who volunteers over time at something they feel passionately about just speaks volumes about that individual’s character.”

Besides the extra boost volunteerism can add to your resume, the act of “Getting Involved” can help you gain relevant experience. Krista Thurlow credits her volunteerism work with a Policy Council at a nonprofit for her transition into an office environment. “From my perspective, volunteering absolutely CAN help a resume! Especially when there is a person looking to transition their skills and/or gain experience in a new field…I had experience working retail/food service, but had gone to college for business.” Because of her personal career transition success with volunteerism, Krista promotes volunteering to job seekers she councils.

Volunteerism can give you that extra kick to get you out networking. “Getting Involved” can increase your exposure to business leaders, community leaders and job opportunities that you may not have heard about otherwise. Beverly Frizzell-MacCallum mentioned “…one of the best things about volunteering is the contacts that you can make in the community. Many business people are involved in non-profits and it is a great way to make connections and learn of opportunities.” She also suggests utilizing your volunteerism contacts for references.

Managers and volunteer project leaders can play a key role in assisting job seeking volunteers. As a manager or leader of a volunteer projects, capturing a volunteer’s interest to gain additional experience is a sure sign that you will have a dedicated volunteer. Capitalize on these opportunities and engage your volunteers. It may open the door to more support in areas that you would not have thought about before. Be sure to document the experience the volunteer gained and after a job well done, be sure to offer a letter of recommendation. This reciprocal support between volunteer manager and job seeking volunteer can have a lasting impact and possibly a long-term volunteer and advocate. Your newly employed volunteer may also pave the way to new networks at their new place of employment. Isn’t that what networking is all about? Job Seeking Volunteerism – a win-win recruitment tool for volunteer projects.

What is the best way to list volunteerism on your resume? Now it’s time, as the job seeker, to set yourself apart from the other job seekers out there and show that you are a well rounded individual. There are many schools of thought when it comes to resume templates. Regardless of the template, do not list your volunteer experience with your regular paid employment history. You don’t want to mislead the reader into thinking it was a regular job. If the experience is relevant to the job you are applying for, add the experience you gained in the qualifications section if you have this as a separate listing. Add a section under your normal job history called “Relevant Experience” - list Volunteer, (title if any), Organization, City, Sate, Time Period and List out the relevant experience gained. If the volunteerism is not directly related to the position you are applying for, simply list your volunteer projects under Associations and Activities - list Volunteer, (title if any), Organization, City, Sate, Time Period. Highlight your volunteerism in your cover letter, especially if the experience is relevant and also if the volunteerism took place in between jobs.

Volunteerism - a great way to boost your resume, close employment gaps, build your network, stay connected, show that your an involved and well rounded individual, and all the while, doing a wonderful thing for someone or something else.

Heather Banester Bassett is the Marketing/PR Director for MyJobWave.com, Employment Times and HRTimes Magazine. She has been an active volunteer for career and human resource related organizations like Maine Career Development Association, Central Maine Human Resources Association, Best Places to Work In Maine and is a guest blogger. For more career related tips and articles visit www.MyJobWave.com.

By Rachel Church

Let me tell you a story from my childhood. I was maybe seven years old, if even that, and watching my Saturday morning television. I can’t tell you what the program was, but I do remember the commercial. It showed starving children standing in muddy water and dying babies in third world countries. The commercial was designed to tug on the heart-strings of adults so that they would donate money to this particular organization, but at my young age it was just too much. I went sobbing to my mother. She calmly explained to me the realities of what I saw. Afterwards, I went into my bedroom and emptied all eight dollars and 27 cents out of my piggy-bank. I told my mother that I wanted to send it, my whole “life” savings, to help the children on the television, so she helped me send it to a good organization that provided food to hungry children all over the world.

This story would have probably escaped my memory if my mother hadn’t mentioned it to me the other day when we were discussing some of the things I have been doing recently. This was the first time I saw injustice in the world and made a conscious decision to do something about it. It was also the first time I felt I could make a difference in the greater community outside my own little world of matchbox cars and Loony Tunes. That idea stayed with me throughout school, from the Earth Saver’s Club and Hall School Helpers in elementary school to organizing food drives with my high school’s student council. In college I continued to do small service projects here and there, like painting soccer goalposts at a local park or volunteering at the soup kitchen. I was a Resident Assistant in the dorms, which was its own unique form of service to the immediate community I belonged to. I was also studying art.

But it was the beginning of my senior year when another big “ah-ha” event happened. I had decided to step back from my role as an RA, and instead looked into the AmeriCorps Service Leader program. I had always had an interested in it, but never felt I had the time until then. When I met with Michael, an AmeriCorps VISTA at the USM Community Service Office, to talk about the program he mentioned his ideas about starting an art-focus community service program at the school. That is when magic happened. It just seemed to be a perfect fit with my skills and interests and the more we talked about it the more excitement filled the room. Right then, the Community Art Initiative was born.

We discussed the power of and need for community-based art in Portland, and the passion and ability of USM artists to make a difference in their community. The mission of the Community Arts Initiative (CAI) was to connect the two. Through my work with the CAI, I have come to realized that particularly in today’s economic climate and time of change, community art is more important that ever

Starting a program from the ground up was not easy. We had to build a student contact list, find projects and community connections, and most importantly figurer out exactly what the Community Art Initiative was and how we wanted to present it to others. It may have been a lot of work, but I had a lot of help from AmeriCorps VISTAs at USM, who had connections to other AmeriCorps Volunteers in community, who had connections to even more community groups and individuals. AmeriCorps members seem to be everywhere! Having those connections were a great benefit in our program, but also personally. I got to meet individuals from many backgrounds and experiences with similar (and sometimes even very different) ideas about service and community.

The AmeriCorps program also provided me with workshops that developed some of the skills I needed. The first one I attended was on figuring out why you as an individual are called to service and how to commutate that to other. It was something I had never thought about before and was an import step in understanding myself and my relationship with community, which ultimately helped me understand my role in the Community Art Initiative. Other workshops topics included mapping your community network and how to work with youth, the latter of which I admit is not my favorite thing but I discovered is inevitable when doing community-based art.

Another thing that made the jobs easier is that we were just so excited about the work we were doing, and with that we created this contagious wave of energy that spread to the people we talked to and the work we did. Thanks to all of this, the first year of the Community Arts Initiative was a huge success, highlighted by a large collaborative mural making project with the Portland Housing Authority, and a classy Community Arts Gala that raised both awareness of community-based art in Portland and a modest amount of money for a Portland-based, non-profit, arts organization, SPIRAL Arts. (For pictures of these events and others, check out http://usm.maine.edu/studentlife/community/students/communityarts.html.)

It was an amazing experience, and after a year we were all blown away by everything we had accomplished in such a short amount of time, included eight youth art classes at community various community venues, two fundraising events for Portland-based, non-profit arts organizations, two studio clean-up days for SPIRAL Arts, help with the Mosaic of Hope to be installed at the Parkside Community Center, an art class for teens and young adults with intellectual & emotional disabilities at STRIVE, and three on-campus community art events.

Where that commercial 15 years ago showed me that I can make a difference in my world, my AmeriCorps experience showed me just how great an impact I can make. Looking back, I know that my work with the Community Art Initiative was so successful because of the network of people I met and skills I gained as part of AmeriCorps program. With that I was able to do so much more than I ever could on my own. And also, for the first time my studies and career goals connected to my desire to make a difference in my world, two aspects of my life which both became more powerful and meaningful connected than they were separate. This experience has truly changed how I will now view my place in this world.

My AmeriCorps Experience is just one unique story. I would encourage anyone to go and discover their own.

Rachel Church is a AmeriCorps Service Leader at the Community Arts Initiative At USM and a guest blogger.

By Anne Schink

I remember a summer several years ago when I lay in bed on a hot summer night suffering with a terrible cold, ear infection and general misery. I struggled to figure out what had triggered this sense of being blocked in every direction. I had a wonderful job and activities that I really enjoyed, but I was feeling totally overwhelmed.

It didn’t take long to realize that I was overcommitted in every way. Even my volunteer activities weren’t fun any more. As I began to dissect my dissatisfaction, I realized that I was working full time and I was involved in about four volunteer activities at a variety of different levels and with a range of intensity. Service on a board I had once enjoyed had begun to feel like a burden. It dawned on me that this volunteer job was very much like my full time job. It felt like just ‘one more thing’. Another volunteer activity involved doing things I actually hated doing! I loved the organization, but I resented the time it took to set up meetings and make follow up phone calls. Too much like my job.

As I worked my down to through the list of activities, I began to see that what I sought in volunteer activities was something different from my every day job. An opportunity to work with people I wouldn’t necessarily run into every day at work. A chance to learn new skills that weren’t necessary in my job, but that were satisfying to me. An opportunity to work directly with others when so much of my work time was spent alone.

If you discern a pattern here, then you are probably a very insightful manager of volunteers. How many times have you asked a volunteer to do work that replicates what they do all day because they have ‘expertise’ in that area? Sometimes a volunteer is a highly skilled professional, but just wants to do something different. As you begin to recruit volunteers with lots of experience, be sure to take the time to explore, not just what they do now and do well, but also what they might rather be doing that will feel new to them and bring a sense of excitement back into their lives.

What kind of experience have you had with people who are trying to break of their mold?

Anne Schink is a Consultant in Volunteer Management and a featured blogger.