Volunteers
Volunteerism is alive and well. Not only is it alive and well, but what volunteers can accomplish is incredible. Most of us need look no further than our local Boy Scouts of America. This was brought home to me last week when I participated in my son’s Cub Scout day camp.
This is an amazing event. Two thousand cub scouts descend on O’Neil Park in South Orange County California—in two shifts: One thousand from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and another thousand from 2:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Keep in mind that there is at least one adult for every four cub scouts and several hundred boy scouts earning service hours by participating as “Orange Shirts” (Counselors and assistants). In addition, there are also about hundred or so siblings in attendance at “sibling camp” as well as numerous Emergency Medical Technicians, law enforcement people, and firemen on hand to keep everyone safe. These people (including the firemen, law enforcement, and EMT’s) are volunteering their time to work for these kids…They do not get paid to participate in this event!
We participated in the afternoon shift, so our day began with trying to time our entrance into the park at the right moment: after the morning shift left but before the rest of the afternoon attendees showed up. There is about a 30 second window to accomplish this! Luckily, there are lots of Orange Shirts directing traffic and telling us where to park to drop off our little guys.
After mustering with our group we began rotating through the activities earning belt loops (Cub equivalent of merit badges) and points towards rank advancement throughout the day (and week). The activities included building bird houses (there is something about 30 or 40 little boys
with saws and hammers in their hands that makes me nervous), water bottle rockets (a slightly more high tech version that the ones my son and I made a few weeks ago), Go Cart races (they just look dangerous and feel dangerous when a couple little boys are pushing and another is “behind the wheel”), archery (if 30 or 40 boys with saws frightens me, think how I felt when I saw 50 or 60 with bows and arrows), flag football, soccer, marbles, and owl pellet dissecting (just think about a hairball from a cat with the bonus of small critter bones—that is what we were dissecting…totally disgusting but very interesting!). And, if you could stomach it after the owl-pellets, solar baked apples and cub-made ice cream and last but not least a good ol’ fashioned water/mud fight.
It was hot. It was dusty. But the boys were having far too much fun to realize the important lessons they were learning: sportsmanship, being part of a team, sharing, looking out for each other, plus all the technical stuff they learned. But the biggest lesson I hope they learned is the value of giving to your community. Without hundreds of volunteers, this event would be a no go.
The core team of volunteers that organizes and coordinates the event is phenomenal. They have the rotations and people control down to a science—there must be someone from Disneyland on the crew! But their single most underappreciated attribute has to be their commitment to youth. We can’t produce leaders for the future unless we take the time to show them the way: how to be leaders, how to be volunteers, and how to give back to their community.
My hat is off to the staff of Saddleback Valley Day Camp. They set the standard in volunteerism, and they do it with a staff of about 10 people. Imagine what we can do with our membership of 30,000 in ISA? The possibilities are endless.
This is an amazing event. Two thousand cub scouts descend on O’Neil Park in South Orange County California—in two shifts: One thousand from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and another thousand from 2:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Keep in mind that there is at least one adult for every four cub scouts and several hundred boy scouts earning service hours by participating as “Orange Shirts” (Counselors and assistants). In addition, there are also about hundred or so siblings in attendance at “sibling camp” as well as numerous Emergency Medical Technicians, law enforcement people, and firemen on hand to keep everyone safe. These people (including the firemen, law enforcement, and EMT’s) are volunteering their time to work for these kids…They do not get paid to participate in this event!
We participated in the afternoon shift, so our day began with trying to time our entrance into the park at the right moment: after the morning shift left but before the rest of the afternoon attendees showed up. There is about a 30 second window to accomplish this! Luckily, there are lots of Orange Shirts directing traffic and telling us where to park to drop off our little guys.After mustering with our group we began rotating through the activities earning belt loops (Cub equivalent of merit badges) and points towards rank advancement throughout the day (and week). The activities included building bird houses (there is something about 30 or 40 little boys
with saws and hammers in their hands that makes me nervous), water bottle rockets (a slightly more high tech version that the ones my son and I made a few weeks ago), Go Cart races (they just look dangerous and feel dangerous when a couple little boys are pushing and another is “behind the wheel”), archery (if 30 or 40 boys with saws frightens me, think how I felt when I saw 50 or 60 with bows and arrows), flag football, soccer, marbles, and owl pellet dissecting (just think about a hairball from a cat with the bonus of small critter bones—that is what we were dissecting…totally disgusting but very interesting!). And, if you could stomach it after the owl-pellets, solar baked apples and cub-made ice cream and last but not least a good ol’ fashioned water/mud fight.It was hot. It was dusty. But the boys were having far too much fun to realize the important lessons they were learning: sportsmanship, being part of a team, sharing, looking out for each other, plus all the technical stuff they learned. But the biggest lesson I hope they learned is the value of giving to your community. Without hundreds of volunteers, this event would be a no go.
The core team of volunteers that organizes and coordinates the event is phenomenal. They have the rotations and people control down to a science—there must be someone from Disneyland on the crew! But their single most underappreciated attribute has to be their commitment to youth. We can’t produce leaders for the future unless we take the time to show them the way: how to be leaders, how to be volunteers, and how to give back to their community.My hat is off to the staff of Saddleback Valley Day Camp. They set the standard in volunteerism, and they do it with a staff of about 10 people. Imagine what we can do with our membership of 30,000 in ISA? The possibilities are endless.
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6:08 AM
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