I didn’t realize until recently that Tennessee’s nickname as ‘The Volunteer State’ is associated with the number of volunteers from the state that fought in the War of 1812. Like many others, I had associated it with Davy Crockett, Sam Houston and the Mexican-American war.
You know, “Remember the Alamo!” and all that…
In any case, our state IS the Volunteer state; our football team is the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee is noted for volunteerism.
Lisa and I believe in this notion. Since the earliest days of our marriage we have both been active participants as volunteers for organizations we believe in. These days, we are active members of Farragut’s Theatre Arts Boosters (TAB). On Saturday, we volunteered to help as FHS drama gets ready for the upcoming production of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” which will be held at the school from Oct. 20-23.
I guess you’d say volunteerism is one of our hobbies; one of our pastimes. We volunteer because we believe it is the right thing to do. We are just trying to do our part to do good to improve life in our part of the world.
We both serve as volunteers at the school, at our church and in our community.
Before we were active volunteers with TAB, I probably had my most rewarding volunteer experience during my 11 year association with Farragut Baseball, Inc. I started off as just a coach. I coached my son’s team every year until he hung up his cleats in 2010.
Along the way, I became a member of the FB, Inc. Board as chief fundraiser. Then, I served as a commissioner for three seasons before receiving the honor of being elected as President of FB, Inc.
I served as President of the baseball league from 2006-08. I think it made Paul proud to know that his dad was the Prez.
When my term as President was complete, I served one year as Immediate Past President, advising the new Prez and serving, somewhat, as the institutional memory. Finally, I concluded my last season as a volunteer with FB, Inc. as just ‘Coach Jeff.’
One of these days, I’ll write about the entire experience. Truly, it was fascinating, I met hundreds of wonderful people AND it was one of the most worthwhile things I have ever done.
Before I did my volunteer work in youth baseball, I had spent a decade as a volunteer with Fantasy of Trees, the holiday charity associated with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. I did a lot of things in this role in the 90s. But, my most memorable experiences were driving around town in a large truck and picking up items donated or loaned to the show.
So, yes, for a week – once a year for every 10 years – I loaded trucks. We collected everything from wooden pallets, to wooden tree stands to foam stars and cotton quilt batting (which doubles for a nice bed of holiday snow).
Volunteerism is in my blood as is the case for generations of Tennesseans who align with our state moniker.
Recently, someone emailed me and was talking about how sad she was. Life just wasn’t going her way. She asked for my advice about how to better her life. One of the pieces of advice I gave her to was to pick a cause – any cause – and get involved. I would tell you the same thing.
If not, you’re missing out.
It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you are doing SOMETHING. Pick something you believe in and find a way to help out. Volunteer for your community, church or school. At the end of the day, you’ll be physically tired but you won’t believe how good you feel about how you spent your day making your community just a little better.
When he was campaigning for President in 1988, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush delivered his call to action to the nation to get involved. He called his idea ‘A Thousand Points of Light.’ In his speech describing his vision for volunteerism, Bush said “The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in.”
I heard his call to action and I embraced it and so did Lisa.
And today, I ask that you do the same. Tutor a student. Coach a team. Pick up trash. Help build sets for a play.
Follow the great tradition of our state. Volunteer! You’ll make a difference; You’ll be glad you did.
JG
(Source: tnhistoryforkids.org)
Originally posted 10/10/2011
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