A popular topic of conversation that often comes up over lunch here at APR is community involvelment. Some individuals and corporations are more involved with charitable organizations than others and that’s perfectly fine. We all do the best we can do when we can do it using the resources we have. Ackermann PR has always been a responsible corporate citizen having supported numerous community organizations throughout the life of the company. No matter the level of involvement, the important thing is to be involved.
In recent weeks and months I’ve come to realize that it is time for me to take less and give more–more time, more energy, more of myself. On a recent weekend, I decided to volunteer for National Trails Day by helping to maintain part of the Appalachian Trail (the AT to hiking junkies) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While on the AT, several older folks on my work crew continually commented about how nice it was to have “young” people involved (myself and a handful of others were late twenties to early thirties). Those comments made me wonder how involved young people really are in volunteer work and local charities.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor, since 2005 both the overall number of volunteers and the volunteer rate have been in gradual decline. Not surprisingly, women are more likely to volunteer than men and persons aged 35 to 54 are the most likely to volunteer. What strikes me is that the least likely persons to volunteer are people in their early twenties. Also, the volunteer rate for teens showed the largest delcine of any age group in the year ending September 2007. In fact, as a percentage of the overall population, persons age 16 to 34 are the least likely to volunteer of any age group.
I’m sure there are numerous valid reasons for persons in my age group not to be involved: education, career, starting a family, travel and jam-packed social calendars among others. I’ll admit that until recently I certainly fell into that group. After my day on the trail, I realized how rewarding, exciting and fun it can be to put in a hard day’s work for an organization that desperately needs all the help it can get. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” The time is now. Do anything, do something.
