Volunteering: the motives and the magic

Why do it? Birds don't do it. Bees don't do it. Even bats don't do it. That is, insofar as we know, none of the above put hours and ergs into Sierra Club volunteer work.

But people of all ages and abilities and interests turn out in sizable numbers to file documents, stuff envelopes, enter data, staff phone banks, create web pages, identify flora and fauna, organize hikes, take pictures, circulate petitions, watchdog government agencies, draft ballot measures, champion endangered species, protect endangered land, and introduce city kids to the outdoors. Why?

Most of our volunteers share a love and respect for the birds and bees and bats, for wilderness and open space, for our whole natural world. Professional graphic designer Monica DuClaud, who has contributed her design expertise to the Yodeler for at least 15 years, is an ardent supporter of wild animal life and healthy open spaces. Growing up in a family dedicated to charitable causes, Monica searched for the niche that would be most meaningful to her. When she uses her professional skills to advertise the Sierra Club calendars or to tutor the Yodeler editor on using Photoshop, she is exhilarated by the connection between her efforts and conservation. "When I can help a cause I believe in," she says, "I find the work exciting in a way many of my regular assignments are not."

Kimberly Thompson, one of our enthusiastic younger volunteers, helps out in the Chapter Office once a week as the result of an on-line search to find an activity that contributes to her zeal for environmental conservation. "I really want to do my part," she says. "I believe in the good things that the Sierra Club facilitates." She believes especially in the importance of educating people about conserving, reuse, and recycling. She adds, "One way to raise the consciousness of people who heedlessly consume and waste resources is to provide opportunities for volunteering in the `environmental community', where one can meet nice people who share common interests, and one can learn from environmental professionals, who live their convictions, the satisfactions that result from treading lightly on the earth."

Over 10 years ago Michael Dashow was floating around Kauai on a Zodiac. The tour guide was troubled about humans encroaching on the land and the ocean, preventing nature from taking care of itself. The guide urged the visitors to become environmental activists and suggested the Sierra Club as a specific conduit to that end. Michael was converted. When he returned home, he began doing cover art for the Yodeler. "Since I am an artist, I can help out in area I am good at for a cause I believe in."

Allen Kent drops into the Chapter Office a couple of times a week to enter data on the computer. "I don't have any degrees the Sierra Club can use," he says, "but this is something tangible I can do to help alleviate the environmental crisis. No one can do the whole job alone, but I can do my part."

Veteran Yodeler proofreader Dottie Wells grew up in an environmentally conscious home. Her mother packed her lunch in a brown paper bag, which she would fold up to use again. Throughout her life she has practiced recycling and other conservation principles. When she retired from high-school teaching, she sought volunteer work that would reinforce those values so important to her. A long-time member of the Sierra Club, she affirms, "I stand for all the things the Sierra Club stands for." She commutes to the Berkeley office from Alamo to share her sharp eye and error-spotting skills.

A dedicated soldier in land-use wars, Kathleen Nimr has been able to "make a difference on issues I care about," a theme echoed by other volunteers. One of the most dramatic examples of Kathleen's "making a difference" was her reaction to the failure of her local government in the 1970s to provide a recycling facility. This was something of great significance to her - and so she founded and directed a non-profit recycling company, the first in east Contra Costa County.

"I can give back to society," says Debbi Landshoff, who currently represents the West Contra Costa group on the Environmental Justice committee. This is just a fraction of the volunteer work she does for her Richmond community. "Giving back" is another motif sounded frequently by our volunteers.

"I want to give back to the club," says Sierra Singles treasurer and hike leader Albert Chiu. The club initiated him in his love and study of nature - now he wants both to "pay back" the Club and to share his enthusiasm for the outdoors, to get others to love and understand nature as he does.

Some volunteers cite a sense of responsibility as the source of their service. Albert began his volunteer service for the Sierra Club for this reason - who else would organize the softball games in Lafayette? Who else would serve as treasurer of the Sierra Singles?

"If I don't do it, who will?" Howard Strassner often asks himself. For over 20 years, Howard has been working with the San Francisco Group on transportation, in particular on restriction of parking, sometimes not a popular point of view. If people can't park, he points out, they will be less likely to drive. There will be cleaner air, quieter neighborhoods, and more fuel and land for worthwhile activities. Yet he constantly feels like the little boy crying "The Emperor has no clothes!" Why has he worked so hard for so long on such an unpopular cause?

"It starts insidiously," he teases. "You get involved in things important to you. You make a little progress. There's always one more thing you think you can accomplish." For Howard, one more thing might be one more parking lot that doesn't get built.

Volunteers also acknowledge some personal benefits of volunteering. "You work with nice people," says Strassner; "you even have a little fun." Hike leader Chiu agrees: "I enjoy people who enjoy hiking." "I get to work with people l like," says Landshoff; "those people, who have worked alongside me year after year have enriched my life with their commitment and diversity." Working with others in the Chapter Office is "a joyful time", adds Wells. "Sometimes," she admits, the volunteers have so much fun "it is hard to concentrate on proofreading."

Because volunteers choose what, how, when, and how much they do, their work has advantages that their nine-to-five jobs don't provide. "I can't get paid for stuff I really want to do," Landshoff says - but "as a volunteer, I can create my own job description." Nimr concurs: "You decide what you want to do. In contrast to regular employment, where you may have philosophical differences with your employers or co-workers, volunteer work allows you to become wholly involved. It also gives you a less narrow view of the world." When she started volunteering, Nimr was the mother of young children. She figured most jobs open to her would have been boring, but through volunteer work, she could do something important and interesting.

Many women who were enthusiastic, even obsessive, volunteers in those days, Nimr notes, hold important political and managerial positions now. Although volunteers are rarely motivated by future personal success, at times it is an unexpected bonus. And almost all volunteers acknowledge the enrichment and personal growth that accompany their unpaid labors.

Inner City Outings certified leader Melanie MacInnis encapsulates many of the purposes and pleasures of volunteer work. Knowing firsthand what it was like to be a troubled teenager, she has been able to introduce at-risk kids and adults to the world of nature. She has helped them find and heal themselves as they meet the challenges and feel the excitement of river rafting. "Watching the light bulbs go off," she says, "seeing the spark in their eyes - that's what matters." Through her 13 years of whitewater volunteer work, Melanie has become one of Northern California's most accomplished rafters and raft-trip organizers. "I learn things," she says. " I develop new skills. I experience beauty."

Karen Rosenbaum