The Coherence of Wisdom

Chapter 13 – Life Lessons Learned from Volunteering
Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
—1 Timothy:18–19

I have volunteered many times during my life and career. My first volunteer role was working at the Masters Golf Tournament as a Gate Guard and later as the Radioman for the tournament’s movie sound crew. Probably my most challenging volunteer role came when I worked for Georgia Railroad Bank. The bank wanted its employees to be seen in the community, and I had the unique opportunity to serve as the volunteer Director of Operations for the Emergency Preparedness Agency or the Civil Defense, as it was then called.
The Civil Defense required me to study for and pass an operations exam and then to shadow the Agency’s Executive Director. This experience came in handy when on February 6, 1980, Augusta had a major ice and snow event. The ice made the roads impossible for normal traffic and there were multiple accidents. I was asked to come into the Defense office by the Executive Director to help with getting hospital and healthcare workers to and from their job locations. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the challenge of doing this.
My first thought was how to mobilize all-terrain vehicles and volunteers to help with this task. After evaluating several opportunities, I decided to reach out to ham radio operators and to owners of all-terrain vehicles to help us with transporting emergency workers. I located ham radio operators in each vehicle and at the hospitals so we could communicate directly over the two-meter band with the vehicle driver and hospital administrator. This way, the drivers would not have to return to the civil defense office for their next assignment. I chose to lead the radio dispatch and received instructions from the administrators as to whom we should transport. For the next fifty-two hours I worked to fulfill the needs of the hospital administrators with only a few short breaks. Our efforts enabled the hospital’s janitorial and administrative staff, nurses and doctors to get to their work locations, and we only had a handful of people we could not reach by our team of radiomen and vehicle drivers.
Since the Civil Defense, I have held the following volunteer positions: Leadership Society for PMI Educational Foundation, Board Director for Springlakes Subdivision, Board Director for Mind Spark Learning, Board Director for Woodgate Subdivision, Ham Radio Club Volunteer, Advisory Member of the Augusta Business Advisory Council, and as a Board Director for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. I am currently serving as the technology assistant at Wesley United Church in Evans, Georgia, where I provide networking support, serve as camera operator, and operate ProPresenter, the church’s slide and video presenter software.
Lessons Learned
I was reminded of the importance of volunteer roles when I worked at Destination Imagination (DI). This non-profit would not exist if it were not for the dedication and passion of more than 30,000 volunteers around the world. Whenever I thought about the sacrifice of time and money this army of people made for DI, I was inspired and energized to keep the DI program relevant as a valued educational resource for schools around the world.
I have learned the importance of offering my skills, knowledge and experience in volunteer positions. These positions are a way of helping others just for the love of helping people. I believe volunteering keeps us grounded. Aren’t we showing love for our neighbor when we sacrifice our time, effort and money to help others achieve their goals? I think so.