Volunteering…the Gift that Keeps on Giving
Written by Tim Buckley, September 2024
Leslye Garcia Quevedo invites volunteers to share about their experiences at recent NFC Volunteer Recognition Retreat
If you do a quick, back-of-the paper napkin calculation, the dollar value of volunteer time spent organizing more than 40 CBEL events in three Salem and Keizer neighborhoods over the past four years (at $15/hour) amounts to over $125,000. These 40 to 50 neighborhood people, about half of whom are also on the Neighborhood Family Councils, are also moms, dads and grandparents. They’re raising families and most also have jobs. Volunteering is like another job on top of everything else!
While the “in kind” value of those volunteer hours is impressive, what is more amazing is the number of people they have served in that time - somewhere between 12,000 and 14,000. (Yes, many of those are “repeat” visitors, because they’ve had so much fun!)
But these four dozen volunteers have served up far more than meals, prizes and cultural entertainment. They have created community health. They have made belonging a reality for thousands of others. They have given rise to hope. They have made a difference in the how the neighborhood sees itself. In the process, their enthusiasm is catching – new volunteers arrive after every event, some of them are adolescents who catch the vibe from their parents and want to join the effort.
Most of those volunteering don’t expect praise and recognition; the experience of being part of Neighborhood Family Council activities is reward enough. Nonetheless, the man who coordinates their efforts for CBEL thinks that public recognition is important. For two reasons.
The primary reason for public recognition of volunteers is, of course, to celebrate their contributions and to acknowledge their generosity and commitment. It’s a time for them to be in the spotlight and enjoy a party in their honor, where they needn’t lift a finger.
But perhaps just as important is that by celebrating them, we are also promoting voluntarism as a community virtue. By recognizing them for their service, we are inviting others to join in.
Last month, the volunteers and their families were hosted at the Salem Family YMCA. They graciously closed the facility for almost eight hours to allow the full use of the facility by CBEL Neighborhood Family Council members, volunteers and their families. More than 80 people showed up, according to Neighborhood Family Councils Director, Eduardo Angulo. “You should have seen the kids, more than 30 of them, having a great time playing basketball, running around the rooftop track, and swimming in the big pool!”
Eduardo secured the use of the entire downtown YMCA for more than a half day. YMCA CEO Tim Sinatra told Eduardo that he sees the neighborhood work CBEL’s doing as important, demonstrating core community values held by the Y. “Giving us use of their whole building was their way of showing appreciation for our efforts,” he said.
During the visit, photos from the neighborhood events were projected on a big screen. During an hourlong honors presentation, emcee Leslye Garcia commented on each photo as it came up on the screen, identifying the people there, acknowledging the volunteers and asking them to comment about what was happening in the photo. “It was so joyful,” Eduardo said. “Instead of just a few photos and a general ‘thank you,’ Leslye took the time to call out individuals and honor their specific skill and value.”
Perhaps the highlight for Eduardo was the honoring of four particular volunteers, whose generosity and dedication was ‘over the top’, kind of like icing on the cake. “Tammy Kunz, Jacque Green, and Ron Berkley are on the Kennedy Neighborhood Family Council (NFC). Jeanette Richter is on the Hallman-Northgate NFC. The newest NFC (Highland) said that they would love to host one of the three Fun Friday events this summer, but they didn’t have the number of volunteers or the time to organize and staff the event,” Eduardo explained. “So, on their own, Tammy, Jacque, Ron, and Jeanette decided that they would organize it for the Highland NFC. They’re reasoning was…they had just finished two other Fun Friday events in their two neighborhoods, and so all the equipment and coordination and volunteer pool was already in place.”
“This is the amazing thing about the CBEL project,” Eduardo continued. “Usually, you’ll see people volunteering only to serve their own group, their own family, their own neighborhood. But here, the council members from all three neighborhoods have become a coalition, a team, a family. I’ve never seen this kind of mutual support before. Frankly, it’s the most wonderful aspect of the project, to see this erasing of boundaries when we come together for mutual benefit,” he said.
