Sharing the Wealth

Every moment, every every day, with everyone

Photo by Melissa Askew on Unsplash

If we are honest with ourselves, I think we would all admit that we would like to be rich, or at least that we would like to have a bit more money to buy a few more things, travel to a few more places, explore some new hobbies, or pursue more compelling opportunities, whether personal or professional. Money provides flexibility, options—choices, in a word.

Why am I thinking of this? Good question, and one that could have many plausible answers. Do I need a new dining room table or bean bag chair? No, I don’t. Do I want to take a trip? No, not really—I’m good right where I am right now, thanks. Do I feel like taking up parasailing or becoming a welder? No, neither of those, either, although I do have a long-running interest in and respect for the trades and feel as if they are vastly undervalued and recognized in this country and would be proud to include myself among them.

The reason I am thinking about being rich is because it’s Volunteer Appreciation Month, and the reason that I know it’s Volunteer Appreciation Month is because I read somewhere that it is. I can’t remember where I read this, but I suspected something was afoot when I began receiving at the beginning of the month all of these invitations to various volunteer appreciation events, all scheduled for the month of April.

A barbeque by the river, an awards dinner, a raffle party, a bowling fete—what’s going on? I wondered. Then I read wherever it was that April is Volunteer Appreciation Month. That explains all the festivities, I thought. And then I checked my calendar and RSVP’ed Yes! to all of them.

What does volunteering have to do with being rich, you may be wondering now? That’s another good question that also has many credible answers. For example, there is a wealth of organizations in which to participate as a volunteer, from those trying to meet the needs of the homeless to those teaching adults how to swim to those taking care of people at the end of life who have no one else to do so.

Have a particular cause or social concern? I bet there is an organization trying to address it. I also bet that organization would love to have you on its volunteer roster. In some ways, volunteering is the ideal job—endless demand.

Now let’s consider another connection between being rich and volunteering. Last year volunteers contributed almost five billion hours of service having an economic value of nearly $167 billion. That’s a lot of dough.

And I have a feeling that without the abundant contributions of volunteers, many organizations would be unable to fulfill their missions or would have missions far smaller in scope and effect, much to the diminishment of our social and communal welfare. Meeting payrolls totaling $167 billion would be tough.

Another connection between volunteering and being rich is the intangibles of volunteering that accrue to volunteers themselves. These include having a feeling of purpose, a sense of community, of time well spent.

There’s no way to quantify these rewards but I imagine they are as real and as substantial as the economic ones. I also imagine that there are ways to expand the volunteer corps, ways for us all to participate in this richness.

Consider what it takes to be a volunteer. It’s just one thing, really—time. That organization serving the homeless that needs someone to answer the phone for a couple of hours on Friday from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM?

Or the food pantry that needs someone to make a few runs out to the warehouse? Or the seniors program downtown that’s looking for someone to call bingo and serve lunch a couple of times a week?

Helping out with these and every other volunteer opportunity with an organization just takes time. It might be a little time or it might be a lot. Either way, it’s time.

But like any other resource, all of us can run short of time now and then and be unable to help out as we would like in a regular, organized way. There’s a workaround for that. We can give our time in another way—by paying attention, to those we encounter in our day-to-day lives, going about our day-to-day business.

To the attendant at the gas station—“How’s your day going?”

To the cashier at the grocery story —“How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

To the representative on the other end of your phone call to the customer service center—“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?”

By paying attention, we give our time. Giving our time, we volunteer—well beyond one month a year. And that, for sure, is something to appreciate and cheer.

So how do you like your barbeque? And how about that river view?

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