This month's news: Volunteering is like a box of chocolates…
In my French language post last month, I talked about one way I gave back to my profession recently by joining the council on curriculum improvement for a local Master’s program in translation. This month, in honor of Global Volunteer Month (launched in 2020), I’m highlighting volunteering as a personal and professional value.
April, National Volunteer Month in the United States
While the month of April became known as National Volunteer Month as part of President George H. W. Bush’s 1000 Points of Light campaign in 1991, it was President Nixon who established the tradition of a National Volunteer week in 1974. Since that time, various national and presidential efforts have continued encouraging citizens to give back to their local communities and make an impact as individuals.
The main areas of focus during the 2021 Global Volunteer Month were Education, Human & Civil Rights, Poverty & Inequality, Environment. Because a lot of the focus in my work is on internal and external corporate communications, I have taken the time to look for ways that the priorities and preoccupations that many businesses grapple with—CSR, CER, and so on—can be applied at my level.
Volunteerism, a key value in America
According to a study by the Urban Institute conducted between 2008 to 2017 released last June, Americans spent an average of between 128-137 hours volunteering per year over the ten-year period! And around 25% of all Americans report volunteering regularly.
It was only in moving to France permanently that I realized how ingrained community service and volunteerism are in American culture. It is something I brought with me and have continued to do both formally and informally. I’m a firm believer in “what comes around goes around” and generosity of spirit.
A way of life
As a kid, I recall participating in a multitude of initiatives throughout the year that are not all that extraordinary in themselves: beach and park clean-up days, recycling, planting trees on Arbor Day, serving meals at a shelter and assembling donations to make a full meal for families in need at Thanksgiving.
During my college years, I volunteered through a number of local Charlottesville venues: the Madison House, tutoring elementary-level kids who needed extra support on math or reading; the Bayly Art Museum (now the Fralin Museum of Art) as a docent; and working with foreign Masters and Doctoral candidates to improve their mastery of phonetics and the American accent through the Center for American English Language and Culture.
The value of giving back
When it comes down to it, the statistics I cited at the beginning of this article only end up adding up to between 2-3 hours a week. While the time commitment isn’t all that much, the value to the organizations and those we help is great.
When I began freelancing, I have made it a point to volunteer my time and range of skills towards worthy causes, interpreting for local associations, editing loan descriptions for the micro-finance NGO Kiva, and spending a few years on the SFT’s regional committee here in the South of France.
As a mid-career professional, giving back to my community and to my field is still important, but I tend to prefer helping on occasion as a need arises for my particular talents, rather than taking on ongoing commitments.
Back to that “box of chocolates”
My time as a PACA-region delegate was quite formative and enabled me to connect to a vibrant community of peers. This was vital for me personally, during the transition from working as an employee to working primarily alone—and from home. In addition, taking on the role of delegate allowed me the opportunity to learn about the inner workings of the French translator’s syndicate, a mix of association and professional union.
Beyond these individual benefits, it is also satisfying to observe the collective benefits. Last year, at the start of the disruptions in business brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, SFT leadership enabled decisive wins through advocacy for the profession and freelancers who otherwise wouldn’t have had much of a voice.
…you never know what you’re going to get (back)
Through my volunteer experiences, I have truly seen how the dynamic of our individual actions have a greater impact when amplified collectively. And part of the fun in volunteering is that you never really know what you’ll get in return. There are so many benefits!
Share your thoughts on volunteering with me on LinkedIn.
to LEARN more about MY VALUES, click on the hyperlinks below:
AMC Communication values and commitments
Being a part of my local business community and networks (in French)
Continuing professional development (in French)
