Exjackly

I volunteer to take other peoples' teenage boys camping - for fun.

Not exactly the top choice of that many people.  Especially those that do not have any kids of their own.  Yet, it is something that I really enjoy and look forward to.

It is partially because of the great outdoors.  It is fun to sit on the back porch with a glass of sweet tea and watch the sunset and people using the park next door.  Getting further out is even more fun for me.  Driving up to a popular lake, hiking along a mountain creek or backpacking into a heated canyon excites me.  Testing my skills against nature makes me content.  Succeeding against difficulties most people shun makes me proud and confident.

That is not the main draw of being a Scoutmaster and taking other peoples' sons camping.

Teaching

Many of the boys that I work with come from stable homes and families that are solidly middle class.  Despite being urban, they have a great environment to grow up in.  A few are less fortunate, living in single parent homes.  A few camp as a family, but for several, Scouting is their best (only?) opportunity to get into the outdoors.

It is also my best opportunity to teach.  I estimate that I have spent more than a year outdoors during my life.  Usually in 1 to 2 night increments, but several one to two week expeditions.  This has made me comfortable and competent in the outdoors - although I will not claim to be an expert.  I do know enough that I can teach the basics of comfort, survival and Leave No Trace.

Part of the enjoyment for me is watching the young, uncomfortable ten-year olds grow up into experienced, confident, competent teens and young adults.  The best part if that it is about more than just camping and hiking.

Responsibility

The boys learn about the requirements of responsibility.  Usually, it is by suffering the consequences of not being responsible.  For the smartest ones, they only forget the poncho or the extra layer of clothes once.  For others, it is a regular experience forgetting important bits of gear or information.  Fortunately, I have never had a situation where I've needed to alleviate the situation for a health or safety reason.

The best ones begin to demonstrate the responibility beyond themselves.  Some volunteer to teach the newer scouts.  Others step into leadership roled in the troop and flourish.  Each scout grows up in their own way, but it is rewarding to see when it finally 'clicks' and they begin to understand what the program is truly about.

Those scouts that get it account for most of the scouts that earn their Eagle award.  It is a proud moment when each of them receives that award - the cumulation of a lot of work on their part and their parent's part with the willing assistance of many others.

Results

In the end, the reason that I enjoy being a Scoutmaster so much is that the results are so impressive.  I have fun spending time in the outdoors, working with young men who are learning a lot and beginning to demonstrate the skills of leaders and model citizens.  For the small amount of money that it costs, the rewards of the program are so great.

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Retailers, friends and family make a very good team when it comes to trying to destroy our budgets around the holidays. The message that we get from TV, magazines, co-workers and neighbors backs them up too. Over and over again, we are browbeat with the ideas that no cost is too high for the holidays and that the more we spend on somebody, the more we love them.

Like you, many people have realized that it isn't necessary to spend a lot to come up with meaningful gifts that tell the recipient how you feel about them. In an effort to help you think creatively and give you a chance to come up with the right gift for friends and family, here are 5 ways to save on gifts without being cheap about it.

1. Consolidate gifts. When giving to multiple members of the same household, it becomes easier to give a family gift. Rather than spending $10 or $20 per person on 6 uninspired gifts, make it a single $30-$40 gift instead. The gift will be nicer and better remembered, while you will wind up saving money.
2. Make a gift. This is not the macaroni and cotton ball craft project your mom lovingly accepted from you after school one day. Use your lifetime of learning to create something for somebody. If you are an amateur photographer, a mosaic of photos or a good sized enlargement may be a good choice. As a scrapbooker, memorialize something special about your friendship with somebody. The key here is that you are already using tools and materials you have on hand for your hobby. Plus, the gift will be truly unique and from the heart.
3. Agree not to give gifts. Do not be a Scrooge with this one. Talk to friends you have exchanged gifts with in the past. Point out that the friendship does not need those gifts. Instead, do something with those friends for a fraction of the cost. Meet them for dinner and split the bill during the holidays. Join them on a local sleigh ride. Whatever the activity is, make it about time with friends instead of gifts for friends.
4. Give to charity. Choose a charity and make a donation in the person's name. Make certain they get a card explaining about the charity, why you chose it and what the donation is going to do. You can even get the other person involved in choosing the charity. This is especially good for dealing with people who have everything already.
5. Perform a Service. In our busy lives, there are always tasks that go undone because they are not urgent enough or important enough to keep up with. In other cases, it is too easy to let something go because it is unobtrusive and undemanding. For a highly appreciated gift, do something about it. For a family with young kids whose parents do not get time for themselves, movie tickets and babysitting may be a godsend. For an elderly friend, maintenance around the house may be even better. For a lonely single, including them in a holiday activity will tell them how much you care.

These gifts are better than cheap knick-knacks and can cost much less than a hectic day at the mall. They do require more thought, and may require more time. The personal nature of these gifts far outweighs these drawbacks, because what is more valuable to us in the long run than honest time and appreciation for the friends and family that make life worth living?

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As a youth as well as an adult, I recognize that I am in a fortunate position. My parents are still alive and living together. I have never been estranged from my extended family. I even get along well with my in-laws. So, for my entire life I have had a traditional - and very supportive - family.

Not everybody has that opportunity. Especially now, I realize just how many people do not have the same support and understanding at home. For some, it is because they are in a single parent household. Others are in blended families. Still others have significant rifts within their families.

Part of this is due to the highly mobile nature of our society. It makes it difficult to keep extended families together, and in some cases it can even pull apart nuclear families. Neighbors are not friends like they used to be, since the faces in a neighborhood change so regularly and quickly. The greatest tragedy of all of this mobility, is that when something happens within a family that is living together to cause problems, help may not be close by.

One organization that is trying to make a difference is Big Brothers/Big Sisters. They try to match up volunteer mentors one-on-one with a 'Little' - a child who can use another positive influence on their life. I have a Little who I have been matched with for a couple of years. It is a small commitment of time, but worth it for the friendship that has developed.

The program puts significant effort into the match process - both to weed out unsuitable or inappropriate mentors and to try to develop a good match that will last for years. From my limited experience, it works. K and I get along well and have many interests that match. It is certainly something that I want to continue on.

If you think that you can make a difference in somebody's life, I encourage you to check out Big Brothers/Big Sisters. There are many Littles in the program who are waiting for a match - especially the boys. Somebody who can listen and let their Little know that they are valued can make all the difference in the world. Do you have it in you?

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It is difficult for me to understand why some people do not volunteer. Especially with so many worthwhile organizations always having trouble finding enough people just to keep their programs functioning. In many cases, with more volunteers, these organizations could expand their programs to reach and help more people.

I know I cannot help every deserving organization out there. So, I have chosen the ones I volunteer for carefully. One of those is the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The BSA is committed to helping boys grow into responsible young men that exhibit the best morals, citizenship, and self-sufficiency possible.

As a youth member, I benefited from the time and effort of many adults who worked with the program. As a youth member, I did everything I could with the program and believe my efforts helped improve it. As an adult,I have now been a member for several years and am now entrusted with running the program for a unit. I am the leader, despite not having any children yet.

I choose to put in the hours each week for the program though, because I believe in what it is doing. Having experienced it, I know that with the right leaders, who are committed for the right reasons, and with the right support from the parents the impact can be life-long and life-changing.

Boys who may or may not have a good environment at home have a chance to learn fun skills and absorb life lessons in an environment that allows them to fails safely, that challenges them year after year, and which recognizes achievement. It is a challenge to balance running things and letting the boys have their turn. The challenge is part of the reason it is so rewarding when everything goes right.

If the job of a professional Scouter was not so focused on raising money, I would consider that as a career option. That is how much I have seen this programoffer in changing lives and developing boys into men to be proud of.

Even if the BSA is not the right place for you to volunteer, I strongly urge everybody to find the right place and contribute.

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Giving makes you wealthy. I will stand by this statement to the end of my days - here or in heaven. The riches you get are not necessarily cash however. I do not support the philosophy any of the evangelists who suggest that you can get material riches by giving to God. That philosophy is about the most arrogant and hypocritical form of religion out there.

I do not know how many other people have noticed this. When I give of my money as well as my time, I feel richer. I have not tracked my net worth and compared how it grows when I give money versus when I do not, so I do not have empirical evidence to back up my claim. Even if there is no actual gain in wealth, it is still worth doing for three main reasons.

First, I believe that I am a Christian. Since I believe in His sacrifice for us, how can I possibly justify keeping all of my wealth and time to myself? I know I cannot make it to heaven by my actions, but do I really believe if I cannot match any of my actions to the teachings and example I am basing my belief on? I fall far short time and again, but I do try.

Secondly, being able to give away money and possessions does have a way to help me in my life here. By giving away, I have to devalue money and material items in my life. They must be less important to me than something else. Otherwise I would not be able to give them away. This is important because it forces me to distance myself from those things and see the bigger picture.

Finally, being committed to giving forces me to myself as a steward of those riches. Those riches are not mine, but I am caring for them for somebody else. Whenever I am taking care of something for somebody else, I treat it better. By being a steward of money to be given away, I help force myself to be more careful with it. This attitude spills over to the money that I am keeping for myself.

Giving things away is a great way to make you feel richer. Beyond feeling good, for most world religions, giving is a part of those spiritual teachings we keep working to learn. Seeing that money is only a part - truly a small part - of the big picture of life is a gift that giving bestows on us. Finally, becoming a steward of money that we are giving to others helps foster an attitude of responsibility for the money that we currently have.

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I am a strongly committed volunteer. Anybody who knows me quickly learns that. At different times, I have been active with my church, the Boy Scouts of America, my homeowner's association, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Toastmasters. Each time I jump in with both feet and give of my time and effort as well as money.

The question is Why?

I volunteer for many reasons. The first is that as I grew up, it was simply a part of being a good citizen. My parents gave me that example, and it still feels completely normal. I was taught you need to contribute. The way you contribute will vary from person to person. In a healthy community, most people will volunteer some of their time and money to help the community in some way.

My biggest contribution is to the Boy Scouts of America. I volunteer there because the program was good to me growing up. Even though I do not have any kids yet, I am able to give back to the program. To the best of my ability, I am not contributing to 35 boys' lives on a regular basis and interacting with many more several times a year. I can see them learning things I struggled with and enjoy seeing them grow and master new skills and gain more confidence.

For that program, it is the idea of giving back to an organization that helped me coupled with the reward of seeing the impact I have. Your reasons can, and should vary. Serviceleader.org has its own article on reasons to volunteer.

To be honest, I cannot picture what my life would be like if I did not volunteer. It is not only a part of how I define myself, it is an important part of how I live.

Long live volunteering, and I hope each of you has found or finds soon your reason and place to volunteer.

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