Before September of 2005 I hadn't spent much time volunteering, other than for two political campaigns. It was something I thought about on occasion, and intended to do at some vague point in the future. I might occasionally attend a non-profit fund raiser, participate in a 5K walk, or go with a friend to deliver toys purchased at Christmas for a needy family. But there was no specific cause to which I felt a connection strong enough to make me sign my name and say "I'm in...what do you need?"
Hurricane Katrina changed that. On August 29, 2005 mother nature teamed with gross governmental indifference/incompetence; the end result was suffering of a magnitude that can never be quantified. And like literally hundreds of thousands of others around the world, I was compelled to find a way to do something. By mid-September I was headed south as a Red Cross volunteer, and in terms of outlay v. personal reward, it was the most selfish thing I've ever done.
When I arrived in Montgomery, AL, the number of volunteers stunned me. There had to be at least 5,000 people lined up at various stations across the headquarters, which was the staging center for deploying volunteers and sending supplies to shelters across Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The shelters remained open (at least in Mississippi) until January of 2006. In the end, Red Cross deployed over 80,000 first time volunteers and 220,000 in total the first year. And by the first anniversary of the storm more than 500,000 Americans would travel to the region to lend a hand:
Those who journeyed to the Gulf arrived solo and in groups—people of faith, college students, retirees, and professionals. Once they arrived, they stayed in makeshift lodgings while they provided temporary shelter to evacuees, fed survivors, cleared debris, and gutted homes. The Red Cross alone marshaled 220,000 volunteers to the area. Other groups and individuals found ways to help from afar, by organizing fund raising drives, shipping supplies to those in need, and adopting evacuee families who relocated to new communities.
Over night I became part of an actual volunteer army. More than five years later, volunteers continue to travel to the Gulf Coast to help communities rebuild. At some later time I'll write more about my experiences as a volunteer and continuing involvement with a decimated coastal town. But personal introduction aside, this is meant to be about more than one volunteer and one cause.
The purpose of the group is to discuss and promote service to community. I'd like to hear about the ways in which people give the most precious commodity--their time. I'm interested in the causes that reel you in, the communities you serve, and the organizations that offer hope and change lives.
I'm open to all ideas in terms of what the group should include and how it should operate. And I'm hoping, if participation warrants it, to get a volunteer to serve as an editor...bet you never saw that coming, right?
To the wrongs that need resistance, To the right that needs assistance, To the future in the distance, Give yourselves. Carrie Chapman Catt