Volunteerism
What Is Volunteerism
Why will one person spend time helping someone he or she does not know, close to home or far away? There are no easy answers.
Volunteering to some, is a way of returning to the community certain benefits received. For others, it is an ineffable experience that makes the volunteer “feel good” And generally, it can be a life transforming experience.
Changing one’s perspective on people, community, society, and defining one’s purpose in life.
Volunteerism is about people, young and old coming together to serve their communities, helping especially the less privileged to meet some of their most pressing social needs. People volunteer their time to worthy courses, enriching lives with their generosity and compassion just to strike a difference in their world.
BUILDING A CULTURE OF SERVICE
Volunteerism will bring about lasting improvement in the world, demonstrating that service can be an effective strategy for solving problems.
Recognizing that our strength as a nation depends on individuals who act on their commitment to help others.
Volunteerism provides opportunities for all to do their part. We should take advantage of this opportunities, tutoring and mentoring children, making neighbourhoods safer, helping communities recover from disasters, building habitat for humanity i.e. homes, and doing hundreds of other things to improve lives and bring people together.
To meet these challenges, we need to unleash the greatest power our countries has the energy and idealism of our people. If big government is not the answer then we need big citizens who can act on the problems that are mounting in our midst. This must be our aim to crack the atom of civic power and pressing problems.
Citizens should stop asking what the country can do for them, we should be asking what we can do for our countries.
EFFECT AND IMPACT OF VOLUNTEERISM
Generally volunteers enrich our lives every day with their generosity and compassion, their services cut cross the fabric of our society from government to the plight of the less privileged citizens in our communities. Volunteers open their hearts and homes to offer not only shelter and food, but most importantly, the hope and support people desperately need to put their lives back together.
This spirit of citizen service has deep and strong roots in the western world. By nurturing this spirit we can help ensure a better future for our nations.
Volunteerism can help restore life to our world but then a question is asked, is there still a civic spirit around ?
Volunteering obviously begins with the individual the golden rule and lending a hand. The hundred million British,Americans and others who volunteer are involved in an extra ordinary array of acts of compassion and service.
The inform protest, assist, teach, heal, build, advocate, comfort, testify, support, solicit, donate, feed, monitor and in many other ways serve people, community and causes so why cant you learn from this and start the race now, a race to ensure and insure a service oriented future for all.
HOW YOU CAN BECOME A VOLUNTEER
Every volunteer must first posses the will to serve others, and as such you may now indicate through communication to LIGHT UP on your intention to be part of its activities. You may do this via mail, direct postage or visitation to our office where you will be given a form to fill and submit for further action. As soon as this process is completed, your information will be recorded in our data and you will be invited for further necessary briefings.
TYPES OF VOLUNTEERS
A. Working volunteer.
B. Financial/ material volunteer.
C. Professional volunteer.
A. Working volunteers: these group of volunteers will dedicate their time to serving others, i.e. they will volunteer some hours out of their time at their discretion to serving others.
B. Financial / Material Volunteers: Volunteers in this category are very busy people who already have tight schedules but at the same time they are interested in the course of volunteerism in the community, they are welcome to become financial / material partners, to contribute their money or materials towards the course
of others. Again volunteers here can also be corporate bodies, philanthropists, government bodies, organizations etc.
C. Professional volunteers: These are volunteers who are professionals in their various fields, who would like to give their services to others freely e.g. Doctors, Lawyers, Lecturers etc. who will devote part of their time to attend to members of the community free of charge.
It is important to know that a volunteer can be a member of the three groups at the same time i.e. being a working, financial/ material and Professional volunteer. It actually depends on the subject in question, but there are no restrictions to volunteer’s ambitions. Volunteers with light up are given the opportunity to explore their extent willingly.
FINDING TIME
With proper planning you can extend your time for public service commitment even beyond normal business
hours all in an effort to make the communities and states better places to live. It is also important to know that our businesses exist in the community and until the community is well our business will never tread well as expected, in considering a quality time to volunteerism it is necessary to plan ourselves very well ahead of time.
In starting a week endeavour to set down your activities for each hour you spend, all activities must be properly spelt out, you may decide to spend just five hours to serve others every week, depending on the way you view it, but the most important thing is for you to be a part of this chain-in lightning up our world, the choice is yours, the benefits as well.
FUTURE BENEFITS FOR VOLUNTEERS
1. Conducting recognition/award ceremonies to show appreciation to volunteers
2. Organizing team building and human resource development for volunteers.
3. Volunteers from time to time will be given the opportunity to participate in international exchange programmes.
4. Volunteerism provides networking opportunities for those involved to benefit from.
THE FOOD BANK. (MAIN PROJECT)
In show casing the effect of volunteerism in our community we have decided to embarks on the food bank project.
A food bank is a place where foodstuffs are being given to the less privileged members in the community.
HOW THE FOOD BANK OPERATES.
The food bank is like the bridge between the rich and the Needy, they help sought for people who can volunteer their time, money, food stuffs, professional aid etc to help others who are in need of it, and then conduct research on those who genuinely need to be supported in the community so as to reach out to them.
At the end of every month food bags are being distributed to selected individuals, some of which will be sent through some volunteers in the case of the very old beneficiaries who may find it difficult to come to the food bank on their own, while others will be contacted to pick up their food bags.
We have recently designed a mobile foodbank to cater for the needs of the less priviledged in different areas.
WHO ARE THE FOOD BANK BENEFICIARIES?
A. The very old people who can no longer work and have no other means of income.
B. Disabled poor whose condition is critical and cannot afford to work.
C. Unemployed poor citizens who cannot afford their meals.
D. The homeless children
The section A,B and D of the food bank beneficiaries explains more about the permanent beneficiaries of the food bank, while the section C is for the temporary beneficiaries of the food bank.