”Tick, tick, tick…”

”Tick, tick, tick…”

 My older brother gets teased for being exactly 6 years older than I. Same birthday, six years apart. “When you’re over the hill,” he says, “You pick up speed!” To be sure, as I get older, the years seem to fly by faster and faster. For us all, welcome to July, and the second half of 2011. It got here quick, didn’t it?

I want the balance of this year to be very fruitful. That’s why I’m writing to encourage you to engage in tracking your service and that of those who help with all you do. “Volunteerism” is not new to you or me, but as a State, we are celebrating volunteer service by counting the hours we serve, in support of the Arizona Centennial Commission, TV Channel 3, and Governor Brewer’s, Commission on Volunteerism and Service. This is to celebrate Arizona’s centennial next year.

Here’s why this is important: You are already active in volunteering and in working with other like-minded servants. At the end of your service, you have improved the lives of those around you. They know it and you know it. Nearly always, that’s all the further the knowledge of your service spreads. I would like to invite you to change your thinking on this and begin tracking and reporting your hours; going public with the information of your service. Unless you do, it’s like one of my older brother’s favorite illustrations, about the young man winking at the attractive young girl in the movie theater when the lights are out. The young man knows what he is doing, but nobody else does. It is important that we bring our actions into the light, so that other may see how we are engaged and how we are serving our community.

Tracking and reporting your service hours demonstrates the impact “For Our City” has on your community. It raises awareness of your service and demonstrates the depth of your commitment to a better Arizona. Each of these reasons can serve to elevate your initiatives with greater community attention.  

There are other benefits, too. For those who are participating with Team Care Inc. in training for the Mayor’s Run and other events, the Governor’s initiative can be counted as volunteer service, if sponsors support your training or event participation. This means that a runner’s training time adds to their volunteer service time, as it contributes to a fundraising effort for individual “For Our City” programs. Again, funds are to be matched in full or up to the limit set my Tempe Mayor Hallman.

Will you consider the benefits of participating and promoting this initiative in your sphere of influence? How many volunteer hours might your community serve? What type of resources might your groups efforts provide for your 2012 projects? Kevin Hartke, “For Our City” Director in Chandler, hopes to track one million hours of citizen involvement on Chandler–area projects. Robyn Bridgeo, Director of Tempe “FOC” already has a team of eight runners and is actively raising support for FOC Tempe and area projects.

Will you go to www.care-inc.org, click on http://bit.ly/qOQacD

Thank you for all you do,

Jon