Volunteering is more important now than ever. Between September of 2020 and 2021, 23% of folks reported formally volunteering in an AmeriCorps research study shared this past year. This is actually a decline of 7% from the same study conducted in 2019. This means individuals are becoming less involved in official volunteer organizations for a variety of reasons. However, on a slightly better note, 51% of respondents said they informally helped those around them–exchanging favors with their neighbors and other seemingly small tasks that make a big difference. But what about Tennessee? We are the Volunteer State, after all. According to that same research study, 23.8% of people reported formally volunteering through different organizations and groups, while 54.3% informally volunteered in some way. These statistics mean Tennessee as a whole is on par or just a bit higher in terms of rates of volunteerism. These statistics also mean that we can do even better.
I grew up in a family that volunteered often. My grandparents run their local food bank, with my grandfather ordering and picking up the items they give out every month and my grandmother in charge of registration and bookkeeping. My uncle is a talented musician, and to this day, he is constantly stepping in to play piano at events through his local church and at different functions in his city. My mother was the volunteer host of the Gay Straight Alliance at the school where she taught, providing students with an outlet to learn about themselves and others when they needed it most. All my family members had causes they firmly believe in, and they devoted a portion of their free time to the advancement of those causes.
In high school, I was required to volunteer fifty hours across my four years in order to graduate. This was not a difficult threshold to make, especially once I joined different clubs that required members to volunteer at certain events. It was through my involvement with Beta Club and National Honor Society that I discovered my passion for youth development–I enjoyed volunteering as a coach at summer soccer camps, hosting canned food drives for local charities, and other philanthropic ventures that made me feel like I was giving back to my hometown. That desire to be a positive influence in my community continued throughout my college studies and early career. When I moved to Memphis in June of 2022, I spent that summer volunteering with the animal shelter in my new neighborhood, where I formed a bond with an FIV+ cat named Charlie. It was extremely rewarding to help him break out of his shell and see him get adopted by a loving family by the time my summer was over. It gave me a sense of accomplishment. It made me feel like what I did was making a difference.
Each Girls on the Run council relies on volunteers to staff our nationally trained coaching program, and GOTR Memphis is no different. Each season we need dedicated coaches from the community to volunteer their time to be a part of our sites and build connections with young folks in the Memphis community across ten weeks. This season, we’re preparing to add three new sites to the GOTR Memphis family, and this kind of growth in access requires growth in personnel to make sure it shines. Anyone interested in learning more about coaching with GOTR Memphis is encouraged to RSVP for our Virtual Coach Info Session on July 22nd at 7PM. There, you can hear from two coaches, two junior coaches, and two site liaisons all about the work they do for GOTR at their various sites and the impact it has had on their girls. New coaches must apply by August 15th for the fall season.
Visit this link to RSVP to the information session and learn more about this volunteer opportunity with Girls on the Run Memphis: https://www.gotrmemphis.org/info-session. We encourage you to get out into your community, find the things you’re passionate about, and find a way to get involved through volunteer opportunities–whether those are formal or informal. Little actions add up to a big impact, even if we don’t always get the chance to see it.
AmeriCorps Study