Professional Volunteer

Today, I spent a large part of my time between doing my charts from last night's shift (so I can get paid) and doing a lot of free work and planning for the organizations I volunteer for. That got me to thinking that I actually volunteer (free) as much as I actually work (for pay). So, I am going to outline my free work here to give you an idea.

I planned and helped Lay 3200 sf of fundraising pavers- April 2011

Channing Hall
The largest organization I volunteer at is the boys' charter school- Channing Hall. I am on the board and on two working committees- Fundraising and Strategic Planning. Last school year I logged over 220 hours there. I also run the school blog.

Church Expansion Planning Committee
Sit on the Unitarian Church expansion and fundraising planning committee.

Utah High School Mountain Biking
I am sponsoring and on the committee for the new initiative to bring high school mountain bike racing to Utah.

Teaching
I am medical director and lecturer to Canyons School district high school EMT classes and take on medical students to do ER rotations with me at work.

NonProfit (Global Emergency Medicine Support- GEMS)
Though not active in the past few years due to the kids, 9/11 etc, I have a nonprofit that's provided emergency medical training in several developing nations: Peru, Guyana, Nepal, Samoa, Fiji. Dot and I did this for over 6 years before the kids came along. As the boys get older I hope to restart this group and do more training and travel.

10%
Dot and I also contribute the local going rate on charitable giving of 10% of income on top of the above.

The point is that these are things I (we) believe in- Education, Social Justice and of course mountain biking- and I am willing to put time and money into it. I enjoy it and there is definitely an unending need for volunteerism. And, ultimately, I hope to set an example for my kids.

The frustration: I have been involved in a fair amount of fundraising and volunteer recruitment activities and what I have trouble with is how hard it is to get people to give of their time and money. There always seems to be an excuse: I already gave to the church, That's what I pay taxes for, I am too busy etc. Well I do all of that too.

I am proud of the contributions I am fortunate enough to make and wish more of our citizens would volunteer in this society. Many times the personal reward is greater than the contribution.

Thank you for listening.