Memorial Day: Honoring All Volunteers

When thinking about Memorial Day and the soldiers who have served the USA, all of them have something in common…they volunteered. We are lucky to be currently living in a country where no one is forced to join the armed services. Every single man and woman who serves is signing up as a volunteer (in the end they get paid) but they are volunteering to protect our basic rights. Imagine what our military would look like if these people did not volunteer.

Without the volunteers in our society, imagine where many of the nonprofit organizations, schools, parent groups and military would be. There would be many nonprofit organizations which would have to fold if they had no volunteers. Having a strong volunteer corps allows an organization to begin trusting larger projects to these volunteers and allows the staff to continue working on the day to day operations of the organizations. Volunteers also serve as future committee members and board members and even sometimes employees. By showing strengths as a volunteer, an individual can be seen as a strong asset to the organization.

The impact volunteers have on an organization can also be shown in a monetary viewpoint. According to The Independent Sector, the average value of volunteer time in 2009 was $20.85 per hour. (http://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time) In my home state of Colorado, this average is $21.47. With one volunteer volunteering an average of 10 hours a week, this would equal over $11,000 to an organization.

On this Memorial Day, I will remember all those soldiers who have volunteered their lives to protect the United States. I will also recognize those volunteers which have helped make my job in the nonprofit sector so much better. Over the last three weeks, I have witnessed a volunteer get recognized for over 34 years of volunteer work at my organization, a teenager get awarded as an Eagle Scout after redesigning an outdoor structure for my organization (this student also left for basic training today) and attended the funeral of a volunteer at my synagogue for the last four decades. This Memorial Day, I will honor all the volunteers who have impacted my life and I hope all nonprofit organizations, schools and the military recognize the strength of the volunteers in our community.

Thank you to those that serve in the military and those that serve in all the nonprofit organizations.

This post is written in recognition of my friend and new soldier Spencer Jonscher and in memory of an amazing volunteer and friend, Rose Saper.