Helping is fun and addictive. Years ago, I played at the precursor to the Sonoma County Bluegrass and Folk Festival at a High School in Sebastopol. It was exciting and loads of fun. I met many of the folks involved in putting on, and supporting the festival, and I admired them. As I was leaving that day, Rick Cornish ran out to my truck.
“Wait, wait!”, he cried. I put on the brakes and rolled down my window.
“How would you like to be the Gallery Manager for the CBA Website?”, he asked. I said “Sure.”
Thus began a slippery slope. I got to know the CBA’s inner workings as an organization and eventually became part of those inner workings. I got to know some truly remarkable people – to list them would risk leaving someone out, so I won’t do that here.
Doing volunteer work for the CBA changed my life. As I mentioned in my first paragraph, it’s addicting. One of the benefits of it is, I find it very hard now to have a night off. There’s always work to be done, and there are so many good causes.
All of this isn’t pure altruism – I ain’t no Mother Theresa. Doing volunteer work makes me feel good, and it makes me feel good about myself. Another benefit is meeting so many interesting people along the way.
I have served on at least 5 Boards of Directors for non-profit organizations, and I am currently an independent contractor working for another. I am in the process of starting a non-profit here in Martinez, formed to use music to raise money for charity.
Every non-profit group I’ve worked with shared with shares this in common – there’s more work than there are warm bodies to perform it. The leadership inevitably bears too much of a load, and this can result in burnout. What’s the answer? More volunteers, of course!
Most of the time, the work that needs to be done isn’t particularly difficult or tedious. When you’re working with a group of volunteers on a task, it’s fun, like a corn-husking party. When the day’s work is done, you’re not thinking “Whew, I’m glad that’s done!”.
Instead, you’re thinking “What’s next?”
