What motivates women to volunteer? Women are known to volunteer more often than men and on average volunteer more hours over a year. Also, the more actively involved a woman is in her own life the more likely she is to volunteer.
My own experiences in the world of volunteerism have been varied and sometimes sporadic. I have to admit I don't have a favorite charity but I do find myself attracted to organizations and people who provide direct help to its recipients as opposed to organizations who act as "middle men."
I began my exploration into the motivation of women volunteers by interviewing Mary Dougherty, the recipient of the inaugural 2011 Spirit of Community Award and wife of Morristown, NJ Mayor, Tim Dougherty.
Mary is a community leader in her own right – Chairwoman of the Morristown Democratic Party and Vice Chairman of the Morris County Democratic Committee. She is in a league with other generous women who also work behind the scenes, quietly helping people who have a need. This is usually accomplished without acknowledgment or recognition.
I know there are many women like her and I wanted to find out what drove her to seek out others who would benefit from her insight and expertise. Very often "help" takes the form of connecting people who have something to share.
Mary's volunteerism began as a faith based mission to become a better Christian. "I feel so blessed that I want to share my blessings with others."
I would love to hear from GSW readers as to what motivates them to volunteer their time and services to organizations and/or individuals.
About Marie Pfeifer
I have a varied work history. My first career was in municipal government as an appointed public official, followed by a very long stint in a telephony corporation as a customer service representative to the regions, and finally finding that I could at last pursue my first love - writing. Writing has always been in the back of my mind. It had to stay there until I could sustain myself and my family through other means. The last eight years have been happily spent honing my skills as a writer. As a freelancer I wrote human interest feature stories for the Daily Record newspaper, The Black River Journal Magazine and Morris Health and Life magazine. More recently, I am a regular contributor to MorristownGreen.com.
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|173.70.202.xxx |2012-01-10 08:49:44 Helen - Love this story line!Love this subject! In my own life I have seen so many women who give so much and I have spent many volunteer hours with a group of other like minded women and men at my side. It was a cleansing for me when I first embarked on my life of volunteerism which did not start until I was 32. I was a late bloomer I guess but with the loss of my brother to AIDS I began to try to make a difference for others who suffered from this disease. I wanted to use the energy of my grief to live more fully in honor of my brother and my father who I lost exactly a year apart from one another. I decided being involved in charitable work was one of the facets of my life that was needing a polishing. I joined AIDS Benefit Committee of NJ( this group has now disbanded and folded efforts into a group called The Healing Community at Fairview Lake) I worked for ABCNJ for at least 15 years before we folded it into the worthy group mentioned. Simultaneously, and dare I say because of the wonderful feel...
I believe when we volunteer our time/resources for others it ultimately helps us to get answers to our own life's challenges.
When my family served as missionaires in S. Africa, for over a year, we had all of these "grand ideas" about how we would "help" the impoverished. What we slowly began to see was that we were changed in our service to others.
We were able to assist individuals obtain employment, engage in domestic violence trainging and bring resources and food to several communities. We were very humbled to be able to contribute to assisting others with their basic needs and goals. In this process, our children and ourselves, had an experience that has been so profound as to how we live today. We have seen more joy in people who have to go outside to use a toilet and live in tin shacks than in people who live very well in the U.S.
In service to others we realize we are so blessed right now where we are and because we are so blessed, the ...