With the recent end of Ontario’s Change The World 2014 campaign, aimed towards increased youth volunteer engagement, I, as an adolescent volunteer myself, thought it would be nice to discuss my own thoughts in more detail on why youths’ volunteer.
First – a personal story: A few weekends ago, I was given the amazing opportunity to give back to my beloved arts community as an organizer/emcee/interviewer for the first ever Southern Ontario Youth Theatre Festival (#SOYTF2014) hosted in downtown Kitchener at THEMUSEUM and Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts. These 2 days in total consisted of 25 back-to-back productions coming out to perform from all across Ontario. This had absolutely nothing to do with competition whatsoever. It was simply all about the experience of getting to watch, perform and entertain audiences of like-minded individuals with a diverse range of youth-collaborated theatre, all while stirring thought, emotion and creating discussion around important and sometimes overlooked social topics. The amount of cooperation, dedication, participation and passion I saw amongst everyone who attended the festival was phenomenal!
We hit a few snags along the way when it came to sticking with the appointed schedule. We had to shift some shows locations and time slots around in order to keep things running smoothly and this is where I became very impressed. Working on such short notice could easily have lead to disaster at several points during the festival, but everyone pulled it together and made it work and I mean EVERYONE. Every other volunteer organizer and myself, regardless of assigned position, made sure to get the word to the audience to guarantee maximum level of attendance for all shows as well as making sure the performing casts were aware of, prepared for, and made comfortable with the required change of plans. Not once did I hear a single complaint from a volunteer, cast or audience member about any of the curveballs thrown our way. Everything worked out and, honestly, it’s because we were all dedicated to the arts, not the time. We all had a purpose and a passion being there and that is why, in my opinion, the festival emerged as a resounding success.
What can be taken from this is that when it comes to youth volunteering, it has got to be something the person enjoys. As I mentioned above, I gained my volunteer position due to my involvement and presence within the arts community, as did all my fellow volunteers. Because of this everyone, including myself, was able to get the best possible experience out of the event because we all shared that commonality.
Everyone has a hobby such as sports, music, art, video games, writing, binge watching Netflix (let’s face it – this is a thing). Whatever it is I assure you there’s a good chance a volunteer position/event/organization exists to match your pleasure. Heck if you have the initiative, branch off or start one yourself; if you’re looking for ideas, I’ll bet there’s a real need for a charity devoted to helping those addicted to binge watching Netflix.
Back on topic, it’s the personal connection and interest that are key to your rewarding experience as a volunteer. This isn’t just a job; you actually have to care about it. Your own motivation is what’s keeping you there. Sure, it’s a great feeling to give back to any area of the community, but the obligation has to match the volunteer’s interest above all else to get that 110% required for the best possible outcome.
Now you just have to go find it.
No I’m serious, just open a new tab, throw those key words *insert hobby/interest + volunteer opportunity* or something along those lines into Google and see what happens. I’m just going to wait here… why are you still reading this… fun fact: the average lifespan of a turkey is seven years… well there, wasn’t that interesting? – Now please go help yourself by helping your community.
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