VOLUNTEERS

the reward for giving of our time can never be measured in dollars

For most of my life, I have been involved in some sort of volunteer based organization or other. In school, I got involved in the Catholic Youth Organization and then while I lived in Winnipeg, I joined the Jaycees and for the past 15 years have found myself assisting with my son's hockey teams and other hockey related events like the Legacy Tournament. The common denominator for all of these worthwhile causes is their dependence on a corps of volunteers to undertake all of the work that needs to be done. Lately, my emphasis has been on youth oriented causes and so I am keenly aware of how important a group of willing participants is to the continued success of any sports program that caters to kids. Anyone who is involved as a volunteer derives tremendous joy and satisfaction from the experience of helping others, but sometimes it is a little disheartening to see that it is always the same faces who show up to help. Even worse is to overhear a comment from someone who quietly tries to undermine the volunteers by accusing them of being self serving. They often like to suggest to other "non-doers," that most volunteers are only involved to help their own children. Newsflash! You are right. They are there to help their children and in the process they are helping yours too, without complaint. OK. so that's my little rant (yes, I could say a lot more) about the people who sit on the sidelines and complain about the efforts of others.
More important, by far, is to recognize those people who make it possible for our children to enjoy sports of all kinds, learn about teamwork and sharing and yes, doing. My hat is off to all of you parents, grandparents and friends who go to meetings on weeknights, get up early on weekends, drive, raise money, cheer, pat kids on the back, wash dirty uniforms, coach, teach and act as role models for our children's children. Without you, the world would be a much sadder place because all that kids would have left are the expensive video games that keep them parked in the basement.
Cheers and thank you for a job well done!