Called to Serve

Love cannot remain by itself -- it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service ~ Mother Teresa

Volunteering holds a special place in my heart. Growing up in the Mormon church, the value of service to others was instilled in my every being. Thus it is no surprise that one pillar of the four fold mission of the LDS church is to "care for the poor and needy." It's just something that we do, and gladly at that. Other activities and organizations I was involved in also encouraged such acts of kindness and service as well. It's second nature to me, although I don't get to do it as much as I would like. It's funny to me when people have such a difficult time with that, but I understand that sometimes service does involve stepping out of the comfort zone and making yourself vulnerable for the benefit of others. I have noticed at times when others seemed to be at a service project against their will, having a negative attitude would always prevent a person from seeing the good that came from the work they did as well as from experiencing the many personal benefits of volunteerism as well.

At a service project in Isla Mujeres, Mexico during an
Alternative Spring Break trip in 2009

Service learning provides so many opportunities for both the individual as well as the people they serve. The point is not to get something out of it, but indeed that is what happens every time. Wikipedia defines volunteering as 

the practice of people working on behalf of others or a particular cause without payment for their time and services. Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, but people also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contacts for possible employment, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be considered self-serving.

Volunteerism indeed seeks to make the world a better place, and in turn volunteers receive the benefits of networking, resume building, as well as feeling good about themselves many times. Studying urban planning at the undergraduate level, many of my classmates are like me, wanting to change the world through their careers, their service, and their actions. Rather than theorize about what is wrong with the world, we wanted  to develop possible solutions. Since planning is a very localized profession, it seems to be more effective at identifying and targeting different social problems which need to be fixed. I found these principles to be very true when I took my honors seminar class with Professor Richard Sundeen on youth services in the nonprofit sector. Volunteerism was a major topic that came up often in our conversations. My ethics professor was also the director of the USC Volunteer Center having studied service learning for her doctoral dissertation. It seems that the world would not be able to function without service contributing to its areas of inefficiency and failure.

It's great to think about volunteerism and the nonprofit sector in terms of all that it does for society, and yet rarely does anyone think about the ways in which "the system" abuses its altruistic definition to mask its true intent at times. While this is not the norm, there are many cases in which people and companies use the guise of volunteerism and service in order to gain personal wealth and other benefits beyond what is normal for volunteers to ask for. For instance, there are a handful of nonprofits out there which are actually for profit organizations using its 501(c)3 status to solicit monetary donations which go directly to their pockets. While the staff must be paid, some directors make six to seven figure salaries and give a one figure portion of their profits to their supposed cause. As the nonprofit sector is such a broad field, it would be interesting to do a study in order to see how much corruption there is in such organizations. This also makes me think of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), the new business model every corporation needs to utilize in order to remain uncriticized in society today. While it seems like a good thing that these great, big, rich companies are willing to take part in giving service to others, I cannot help but to think that it might be purely for show and image benefits. I'm not saying it's one or the other, but after hearing a Mattel philanthropy officer speak to my class a a year or so ago I am not sure I am convinced that they do it for altruistic reasons. After all, companies tend to give only 2-3% of their profit to philanthropic purposes (according to this person at Mattel).

Cleaning the beaches of Isla Contoy

On a brighter note, it's always nice to see large corporations who are willing to incite the spirit of volunteerism in others. I was so excited when Disney announced their "Give a Day, Get a Day" deal in 2010 where you could volunteer for a day at a participating organization and in return you received a voucher good for one free entry into Disneyland or California Adventure Park. The response from the public was overwhelming, and Disney quickly reached the limit for the number of free vouchers they were able to give out. I enlisted my roommates and my family to sign up for projects with me right away as well. I ended up volunteering at the Los Angeles Marathon for the Students Run LA program in which middle school aged kids who were at risk in the Los Angeles area had trained for the past school year in order to run at this event. It was such an inspiring thing to see these kids who looked much younger than they were often times, crossing the finish line. Wow. A marathon. They ran a marathon! While I felt like I wasn't able to do too much to help the program out in a single day, I keep up with their newsletters and events throughout the year, and I have decided to run my own half marathon this year after being so inspired by the efforts of this program. Volutneering often exposes people to ideas and cultures outside of their comfort zone and inspires them to do something about it. Volutneering really can change the world, if people can serve others willingly and joyfully.

Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.
Has anyone’s burden been lighter today
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?
Then wake up and do something more
Than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.
2. There are chances for work all around just now,
Opportunities right in our way.
Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,”
But go and do something today.
’Tis noble of man to work and to give;
Love’s labor has merit alone.
Only he who does something helps others to live.
To God each good work will be known.
Then wake up and do something more
Than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.