My message this quarter relates to volunteering. Wikipedia defines volunteering in general terms as "the practice of people working on behalf of others or a particular cause without payment for their time and services. Volunteering is generally considered an altruisticactivity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, but people also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contacts for possible employment, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be considered self-serving. Volunteering takes many forms and is performed by a wide range of people.”
In 1999, the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) created its Community Challenge Weekend (CCW) program. The mission of CCW is to encourage ALA chapters, their members, firms, vendors, relatives and friends to come together to contribute time, energy and resources toward improving their own communities, and to help those in need tackle their everyday challenges.
With all that said, what does volunteering mean to me, and to the members of our Chapter? It means donating cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, paper products, cereal and peanut butter in addition to many, many other wish list items. It means wrangling funds from managing partners to purchase more supplies or gift cards. It means scrubbing bathrooms and dusting furniture, or putting together a yummy meal.
For us, this year's CCW challenge meant supporting the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). With your help, our organization provided a significant amount of supplies and food for the families supported by RMHC. Two groups of Valley of the Sun Chapter members, their families, friends and some of our Business Partners lent a hand on Saturday, October 8, 2011. The first group cleaned a number of rooms and an apartment at the RMHC Roanoke location for the next group of families in need of a place to stay while their children seek medical treatment. The second group prepared a meal for the families residing at the RMHC Cambridge facility on Saturday night. Thank you to all of our volunteers, with a special shout out to Cheri Lord and Gina Sanfillippo for organizing such an awesome event.
While I have been a member of this Chapter, its members have walked and ran at the Phoenix Zoo to raise funds to purchase supplies for schools with special needs, packed food boxes for the hungry of our community, cleaned up neighborhoods, and collected videos for veterans, just to name a few volunteer events.
In addition to the work our volunteers do in the community, they also volunteer to serve on our Board of Directors, and on various committees on a local, regional and international level. Recently, our Past Presidents agreed to volunteer in an advisory role. These individuals hold a wealth of knowledge about ALA and have specific knowledge about the history of our Chapter. We have asked our Past Presidents to support and encourage our Board Members and Committee Chairs. They may also be a resource to help provide members, especially our new members, with a better experience in ALA. There is more to come on this effort in the future.
I am blessed to be part of an extraordinary organization of caring legal management professionals.
I am reminded of this quote from Edward Everett Hale: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” (Source: Wikipedia)
We can all volunteer in our own way – with our church, our children's school, or the professional organizations to which we belong. You are only one, but together we can accomplish great things.