alli_boom (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} alli_boom) wrote,@ 2008-09-08 00:01:00 |
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E (Effort) + e (energy) = R (Rebuilding, Restoring, Results)
Almost exactly one year ago, I met Give Us Wings. Looking back at an old journal entry a couple of days ago, I recalled the moment that led up to our meeting. After taking a strengths assessment early last year, I started thinking about the purpose of my work. At the top of my list of strengths was one I had not expected, belief. Belief in an organization: the ability to work hard for something I believe in, is my number one strength. This surprised me at first, but when I started thinking, I realized that work is not about money for me; it is about belief. I found something I can believe in with Give us wings.
I remember checking a volunteer site for a meaningful opportunity with a non-profit and stumbling upon the listing for Give Us Wings - I was excited to receive a call from Tracy. A couple of days later I met Tracy and Mary - I was instantly impressed with the spirit of the organization. They asked me what I wanted to do - and I said I wanted to help coordinate trips - organize details and lead people. In my current role at ShopNBC; I most enjoy the moments where I am managing a handful of specifics, allowing people to execute each of the pieces, in order to make the production a success. Similar to coordinating volunteers in Africa - my role is ensuring the timely execution of events.
From that moment on I have taken my role as a trip coordinator very seriuosly. I enjoy this work a great deal - it gives me a sense of purpose. I feel as though I report to the people of Africa - I look to Mary and others nearer to me for immediate feedback, but ultimately report to those people who we all touch with our thoughts and donations. My efforts are not measured with a bonus and a new possession, to mark the moment. My efforts are marked with the knowledge that nine Americans entered villages in Kenya and Uganda and left those villages with hearts overflowing - as mine is too.
We left the villages feeling as though the work of Give Us WIngs for the last 10 years had made a tremendous difference. I personally left inspired to give more of my greatest resource...time. I will continue to give my time to the cause of rebuilding the villages of eastern Africa. I will do this knowing that in another 10 years, the impact may seem small from the outside. It may seem as though only a small dent has been made in comparison to the magnitude of the problem. But I will continue and do this, knowing that the small dent I have made is combined with the efforts of many like me, many who have made the journey and have felt their hearts filled. I will continue, knowing that the smallest effort I have made has created a magnitude of feeling and difference in Africa.
Do the math: one small effort, one hour of time, multiplied by all of us - equals enough energy and effort to build a million millenium villages. (http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/mv/i
You may say I'm a dreamer...I am not the only one.
Almost exactly one year ago, I met Give Us Wings. Looking back at an old journal entry a couple of days ago, I recalled the moment that led up to our meeting. After taking a strengths assessment early last year, I started thinking about the purpose of my work. At the top of my list of strengths was one I had not expected, belief. Belief in an organization: the ability to work hard for something I believe in, is my number one strength. This surprised me at first, but when I started thinking, I realized that work is not about money for me; it is about belief. I found something I can believe in with Give us wings.
I remember checking a volunteer site for a meaningful opportunity with a non-profit and stumbling upon the listing for Give Us Wings - I was excited to receive a call from Tracy. A couple of days later I met Tracy and Mary - I was instantly impressed with the spirit of the organization. They asked me what I wanted to do - and I said I wanted to help coordinate trips - organize details and lead people. In my current role at ShopNBC; I most enjoy the moments where I am managing a handful of specifics, allowing people to execute each of the pieces, in order to make the production a success. Similar to coordinating volunteers in Africa - my role is ensuring the timely execution of events.
From that moment on I have taken my role as a trip coordinator very seriuosly. I enjoy this work a great deal - it gives me a sense of purpose. I feel as though I report to the people of Africa - I look to Mary and others nearer to me for immediate feedback, but ultimately report to those people who we all touch with our thoughts and donations. My efforts are not measured with a bonus and a new possession, to mark the moment. My efforts are marked with the knowledge that nine Americans entered villages in Kenya and Uganda and left those villages with hearts overflowing - as mine is too.
We left the villages feeling as though the work of Give Us WIngs for the last 10 years had made a tremendous difference. I personally left inspired to give more of my greatest resource...time. I will continue to give my time to the cause of rebuilding the villages of eastern Africa. I will do this knowing that in another 10 years, the impact may seem small from the outside. It may seem as though only a small dent has been made in comparison to the magnitude of the problem. But I will continue and do this, knowing that the small dent I have made is combined with the efforts of many like me, many who have made the journey and have felt their hearts filled. I will continue, knowing that the smallest effort I have made has created a magnitude of feeling and difference in Africa.
Do the math: one small effort, one hour of time, multiplied by all of us - equals enough energy and effort to build a million millenium villages. (http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/mv/i
You may say I'm a dreamer...I am not the only one.
