| Volunteers
|
|
When Neil Nicoll, National YMCA Chief Executive, was asked what he thought the most important point of this Volunteerism learning experience should be, he answered without hesitation: “Volunteerism is the most foundational principle of our organization. Simply put, the YMCA would not exist if it was not for the volunteers of yesterday and today. Staff should understand that working with volunteers is one of the most rewarding – and fun – aspects of a YMCA career.”
In an age of disposable relationships, we, as an organization, must reaffirm the need to make a steadfast commitment to others. This commitment comes from a deep-seated belief that service to members personifies the essential values and mission of our organization, but it’s more than service that defines the YMCA. Great service is merely the path to member involvement, community building, and volunteer development. Mission comes to life when members give back and get involved...as volunteers.
Some of our volunteers have included:
- Anthony Bowen founded the first black YMCA in Washington, D.C. in 1853. He was a minister and the first African American to work in the U.S. Patent Office. Bowen became an outspoken advocate for the education of black children.
- Thomas Valentine Sullivan was a Boston sea captain and missionary who was inspired by stories of the YMCA in England. With six colleagues, Sullivan called the first meeting leading to a constitution, and on December 29, 1851, the YMCA began at the Old South Church in Boston.
- Dr. Charles Eastman, a member of the Sioux nation, was selected by the national YMCA to head the “Indian” office to assist in the operation and formation of Ys among native peoples. Educated at Dartmouth College and Boston University, Eastman expanded the number of Native-American YMCAs to 40 in just four years.
This organization wasn’t started by paid staff….it was started, and maintained, and nourished, by….volunteers! When George Williams founded the YMCA in 1844, he did so as a volunteer. In the movement’s early history, all the people delivering programs and services at Ys were volunteers. In fact, the first staff members were called “secretaries” because they were hired to do the paperwork. Clearly the YMCA is an organization that embraces and offers diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, and occupation,
Volunteers have made tremendous, and often trend-setting, contributions to the movement and our society,Numerous well-known and even famous people, as well as ordinary individuals, have contributed to the YMCA as volunteers, we never know where or from whom contributions are going to come.
When Neil Nicoll, National YMCA Chief Executive, was asked what he thought the most important point of this Volunteerism learning experience should be, he answered without hesitation: “Volunteerism is the most foundational principle of our organization. Simply put, the YMCA would not exist if it was not for the volunteers of yesterday and today. Staff should understand that working with volunteers is one of the most rewarding – and fun – aspects of a YMCA career.”
In an age of disposable relationships, we, as an organization, must reaffirm the need to make a steadfast commitment to others. This commitment comes from a deep-seated belief that service to members personifies the essential values and mission of our organization, but it’s more than service that defines the YMCA. Great service is merely the path to member involvement, community building, and volunteer development. Mission comes to life when members give back and get involved...as volunteers.
Some of our volunteers have included:
- Anthony Bowen founded the first black YMCA in Washington, D.C. in 1853. He was a minister and the first African American to work in the U.S. Patent Office. Bowen became an outspoken advocate for the education of black children.
- Thomas Valentine Sullivan was a Boston sea captain and missionary who was inspired by stories of the YMCA in England. With six colleagues, Sullivan called the first meeting leading to a constitution, and on December 29, 1851, the YMCA began at the Old South Church in Boston.
- Dr. Charles Eastman, a member of the Sioux nation, was selected by the national YMCA to head the “Indian” office to assist in the operation and formation of Ys among native peoples. Educated at Dartmouth College and Boston University, Eastman expanded the number of Native-American YMCAs to 40 in just four years.
This organization wasn’t started by paid staff….it was started, and maintained, and nourished, by….volunteers! When George Williams founded the YMCA in 1844, he did so as a volunteer. In the movement’s early history, all the people delivering programs and services at Ys were volunteers. In fact, the first staff members were called “secretaries” because they were hired to do the paperwork. Clearly the YMCA is an organization that embraces and offers diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, and occupation,
Volunteers have made tremendous, and often trend-setting, contributions to the movement and our society,Numerous well-known and even famous people, as well as ordinary individuals, have contributed to the YMCA as volunteers, we never know where or from whom contributions are going to come.
|
|
|