One of my various hats as Coordinator of Community and Public Relations at CODAC Behavioral Health Services is that of “volunteer coordinator” and in the last three and a half months that I have been employed with CODAC, I have “coordinated” exactly one volunteer event.

A week ago I attended “Volunteer Management 2007,” a two-day conference on managing volunteers. It was a good conference—entertaining and engaging presenters, I met interesting people, and at the end, I was pretty jazzed about creating a tangible and substantial volunteer program.

I left the conference on a blissful high of volunteer management possibilities. I was ready to recruit, coordinate, interview, and train an army of eager volunteers. I imagined them breaking down the doors of CODAC to help us pursue our mission to build healthy lives, families, and communities. I floated upon a cloud of abundant altruism, my faith in other human beings soaring and I was positive I could design a successful and fruitful volunteer program for my non-profit organization. Staff would thank me emphatically, volunteers would laud our programs and services, thanking me for the opportunity to help.

Monday I came into the office and went about my normal morning activities—three cups of coffee and email. On my desk was the Volunteer Management booklet, full of blue prints, strategies, and helpful hints on managing a volunteer program. Oh yeah. It had been waiting anxiously for me all weekend. I still wanted to do it, but the buzz of Friday’s post-conference motivation had worn off a little and the hesitation set in—I started to question the reality of actually getting the average Joe to volunteer for us. Volunteerism is an entire psychology in and of itself. How to make people do work but not get paid. Hmm… seems like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? What if volunteers came but then just changed their minds? Or what if they didn’t have a good time? Or worst of all, what if no one even responded to my requests at all!? I wondered if I should even bother. The volunteering stigma monster had me in its grips and I felt discouraged.

In the movie “Field of Dreams”, the main character has a wish to build a baseball field. He hears a voice that says, “If you build it, they will come.” This man trusted the mystery voice and created his dream baseball field—and lo and behold, it was a success! So I started to think about that. If you build it, they will come. Is that true also of a volunteer program? If I write the job descriptions and put them out there, will my fantasy volunteers come and help make our program a success? Sure, I wouldn’t say volunteering for CODAC is synonymous with Baseball—THE “American Pastime,” but hey, it could be fun too! And if volunteers requested, I would be happy to supply peanuts and cracker-jacks. I am re-inspired, optimistic, and ready for the future of volunteerism at CODAC. The more we can connect with the community, the better.

Thanks for Reading!
Ayla Rose Gilbert
Coordinator of Community and Public Relations for CODAC Behavioral Health Services, Inc
www.codac.org
agilbert@codac.org