Well, I for one feel a bit discouraged today.
A few months back, in a meeting at work, my boss wondered allowed why the employees where I work were so disinterested and uninvolved in their community. Without answering why this was the case, I offered something we could do to change that: We could launch a company-wide community service project of our own!
The idea met with much enthusiasm, and I went about pursuing it.
First, to get people interested in the idea, I interviewed a few employees who had served in their communities in the past. The interviews were light-hearted, but were intended to have the effect of opening up others to the concept. Everyone enjoyed reading the end-result, which was accompanied with amusing Polaroids taken during these tape-recorded interview sessions.
Next, I sought feedback from the roughly 25 employees I work with. The consensus idea was some sort of environmental project. I called the county Parks and Rec Department and asked where help was needed most. A local beach was at the top of their list, they said. Fine, that sounded great to me. A day at the beach! Of course, some employees would be working at the time, and would be unable to attend, but the majority of the staff would be off in the late afternoon, so I was hoping to get a good turnout.
Next step, I sent out a couple press releases to local media. News is usually slow in these parts, and I thought there was a chance they would pick up on a "good news" story about environmental awareness and community service.
To make a long story short, a total of four people showed up. No media ran my press release. The beach was immaculate, with almost nothing to clean. The whole effort was a complete fucking waste of everyone's time, especially mine.
Article comments
1 - JR
Any time you organize anything, you're likely to be disappointed at turnout. People are just a lot more interested in an activity when it's still in the theoretical stage. My friends are always clammoring to go hiking, but once I arrange a trip everybody's got something else to do.
I don't know if it was always this way. I'm guessing that back in the olden days, not so many people tried to organize public events; and those who did were probably in a position to make them mandatory.
Oh, and another rule of thumb: if you're the guy who volunteers to have a party at your place, you're the one who doesn't have any fun.
2 - Eric Olsen
JR, whistling Dixie you are not.
3 - Shark
Personal anecdote warning!
Due to my recent non-self-imposed massive amount of free time (heh), I tried to volunteer my services all over my city, from Mental Health services to hospitals and non-profit education groups. (They had 'actively' solicited volunteers, and many were suffering huge budget cuts from state and local authorities.)
After making initial contacts, I never heard back from a SINGLE ONE.
Aside: When I worked for an art museum, we had an active volunteer program, but behind the scenes, most staff didn't want to mess with the training and administration necessary to pull it off on a relatively large scale.
--Which means those 'faith-based' helpers and those 'thousand points of light' might be highly suspect as significant antidotes to anything. (?)