Our Volunteers Are Awesome

By Colin Peterson
Today is one of those days when I feel really good about working at United Way of Central Iowa. I can brag on the staff (I think my colleagues rock!) but today I’m most pleased by the enthusiasm and support demonstrated by our volunteers (I realize I’m supposed to blog on Giving so my apologies to Rachel, our blogger for volunteerism).

This morning we had a meeting of our campaign cabinet followed by one of three trainings for volunteers that will be making CEO calls on our behalf this year (for explanation of what the cabinet and volunteer callers do go here).

All in all, 40 volunteers came through our door this morning. When we went around the room and introduced ourselves we asked everyone to share how long they’ve been volunteering for United Way. The winner, Dave Nagel from Freedom Financial Bank, has been a volunteer for nearly 50 years! Others in the room are volunteering for the first time.

A lot was covered in the meetings this morning including campaign goals, community impact goals, volunteer recruitment, and other business. Given the exceptional times our community and country have faced in the last 12 months it would be very easy to accept a defeatist, powerless outlook. Fortunately there was none of that in the building this morning. The level of engagement and enthusiasm reflected by these volunteers was astounding. This is a group that is clearly committed to giving their time, their treasure, and their voice to an ambitious community agenda.

I owe all of you who Give, Advocate, and Volunteer in central Iowa a big thank you! Your support is priceless and essential to the community. Moreover, it makes my job feel like a lot of fun!