This is the third article in a special series for The Covington News by Hosanna Fletcher. The purpose of this series is to inspire and empower people to take concrete steps towards community engagement, specifically to end the hunger crisis. This month we look at part two of volunteering.
Volunteer. Freely giving of yourself to support a cause.
No, that is not a misprint. That is the same opening of last month’s article. But volunteering is so important that it is worth another look but from a different vantage point. Volunteering is about learning and doing good.
If you give time towards a cause that you believe in, you put yourself in a position to learn. To learn about the need. To learn about an organization. To learn about your community. To learn about a cause. This type of learning is more than you can learn in a book or with a Google search.
And when we volunteer, we learn about ourselves. We learn our passions, our strengths and our power to make change. By helping families, animals or the environment, we learn more about what makes our world and our community work. And we learn our very important place in that.
“Before volunteering, I was just another bystander in my community. This experience has helped me to see that it is not hard to be a participating member of my local community,” said Abby Whittle, a previous GSU-Newton campus student.
For the last few years, Georgia State University-Newton campus students have been volunteering at community organizations, connecting real-world issues to course content. Service learning/community-based learning is an approach seen in higher education across the nation that aims to increase the visibility and teach the importance of volunteerism and civic engagement while increasing the impact on learning.
Meaning, we might read about it in a book or watch a YouTube video, but, until you experience it, you haven’t quite fully learned it.
“I learned how much truly goes into getting food out to the community,” said GSU student Dalton Vedder. “From sorting and putting away everything to then making premade boxes of food, there is so much behind the scenes work.”
When you volunteer in your community, especially in a capacity that directly serves other people, you are learning about your neighbor. Helping someone in need is enhanced by humanizing that need.
“One thing I observed is at the [Giving Hands] Food Pantry, they were provided carts to shop for their items, and offered service to help them to their cars, like how you would shop at the grocery store,” said GSU student Brooklynn McRae. “So, there is a sense of normality, given the circumstances the clients are in.”
There is nothing quite like the sensation of being able to provide for another human being. Or the gratification of cleaning up litter in your neighborhood or caring for God’s creation. While those very real feelings of gratification and fulfillment are tangible rewards, the real reward comes from knowing that you are part of something greater than yourself. You are contributing the community development, which is in turn the strength and vitality of a community.
“This made me understand that I could have a bigger impact in my community. It felt good to make a difference in whatever way we could,” said Jabari Fletcher, a previous GSU-Newton campus student.
With the holidays approaching, the halt in SNAP benefits, and the seemingly uncertain times we are in, there seems to be need everywhere. That need is your volunteer opportunity knocking. So get out there and do good and then feel good about it! Our community, and our world, will be the better for it.
Hosanna Fletcher believes in the power of community and has worked in nonprofits, government, and for-profits serving the community for the last 20 years. She is a faculty member at Georgia State University and works with the Giving Hands Food Pantry on Community Outreach. To reach Hosanna, please email community@covingtonfirst.org.
