Volunteering, the one place where you usually get back much more than you put in

Most of you that know me and follow me here know that I love working with nonprofits. What I don't talk about quite as much is the volunteer work I do. I've been thinking about an experience I had recently while I was volunteering for the Idaho Nonprofit Center a lot lately so I thought I'd share it with you because experiences like this don't happen often and I know it's something I likely wouldn't have ever experienced had I not been volunteering that day. 

Idaho Gives was on May 2nd this year, the first Thursday in May. It was one of the longest days I've ever had, it wasn't quite as long as some of the days I spent working music festivals when I was in college but it came close. I woke up around 4:30 because I'd signed up for the 5-7 AM shift at the phone bank taking donations over the phone. It wasn't a very busy morning, I think I took 5-8 calls total. From there I spend the rest of the day at various events that were meant to promote Idaho Gives and give nonprofits a chance to get some exposure in the community. There was a kickoff breakfast, events at The Village, an outdoor shopping / restaurant complex, and a block party with live music, more nonprofits and plenty of fun!

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to end my day the way I started it, going back to the phone bank from 9 PM to Midnight. When I got there I chatted with the coordinator for a few minutes and found out that the phone bank hadn't picked up much throughout the day and was about as busy at it was early in the morning. I was very excited to hear this because I'd been up and at it for over 16 hours at that point so a nice, mellow evening sounded fantastic. The phone bank was located in the studio of a local news station so when the 10 o'clock news came on they did a story about Idaho Gives and showed a quick video of us waiting to take calls. After that the night was anything but mellow, in the span of an hour I took around 15-20 calls, as did the other 4 volunteers. Right around 11 or so the phone calls started to slow down, we were still getting some calls but it wasn't the frenzy it had been for the previous hour.

My phone rang and I answered. I could immediately tell that it was an elderly woman. She was calling from a town not far from Boise and she said she wanted to make a donation to the Idaho Humane Society because she adopted a dog from them over 10 years ago and wanted to give back to the organization that helped her find her best friend. Getting the information needed to process donations usually took about 5 minutes or less. I spoke to this woman for almost 30. She told me stories about her dog, Bruneau, and all the laughs and smiles she'd had because that dog was in her life. She told me she grew up in Boise and graduated from Boise High in 1957! She talked a lot about how much Boise has changed and how incredible it's been to watch the growth. Then she started telling me about her family. She told me about her kids, her grand kids, her siblings, her parents and her cousins. She was so happy and proud of all her kids and grand kids and said that the best time of year is when they would come visit her.

Then she told me something that wasn't all that surprising to me. She told me her husband had passed away around a year ago but that they had lived a long and happy life together. I wasn't surprised because I could tell from the moment I picked up the phone that what she wanted more than to just make a donation was to talk to someone. That's why I never once tried to get her off the phone, like I've been trained to do in my previous customer service jobs, instead I would ask questions, laugh with her and make sure she knew I was listening. She wanted to make a donation to the Humane Society because without them, she wouldn't have had anyone to keep her company after her husband passed. Her dog is her entire world, unless her grand kids are in town, and she wanted to thank them for providing her world to her. When she finally said she needed to get off the phone and get ready for bed she said that it was so great to have someone to talk to and thanked me.

I've been thinking about this conversation a lot since it took place. It was absolutely the highlight to my day and gave me a new perspective on life. Life is a long process, we see growth, we see change, we develop relationships and we usually want to talk about those aspects of life with others. She never once told me how much money she made, what socioeconomic class she belonged to or what her title was in her professional life. She didn't tell me those things because they weren't as important to her as her family, her dog or her experiences. I used to really struggle with where I was in life, I'd tell myself I hadn't done enough or wasn't far enough along and those thoughts led me down a dark path. I was fortunate enough to change paths and come out of the darkness a better person but not everyone shares that experience.

Don't get me wrong, I have ambitions professionally and am working very hard to achieve my goals. But I've also taken a step back to make sure that the rest of my life doesn't suffer because of that and it's lead me to feel more fulfilled, happier and more content not just with my life but with me. It doesn't hurt to take a day off, to leave an hour early or to take a few minutes each day to make sure you're not working yourself into the ground. We only get one shot at life and whether you're working 40 hours a week or 80, there are still 168 hours every week, what are you doing with your non-work hours to make sure they're fulfilling?