I have changed my plans for next Saturday three times so far. I think I have settled on the best use of my time now. I was going to be trying to get XS up to the mountains and back for a party, but that plan fell apart rapidly. Then I was going to be touring a classic car collection that is only open to the public once or twice a year, and we had the opportunity to see them as a large group. Nearly all of the slots were filled right away, but I had one reserved. But now, I think I must change yet again, and this time it's to do the right thing.
Our monthly sales meeting was today, and our presentation was given by the volunteer coordinator. She has a new project lined up, and I had glossed over the details of this one, thinking that my day was already taken. But after hearing her pitch, I am starting to recruit people in my sphere of influence, especially focusing on young people who might need volunteer hours to qualify for awards or scholarships or whatnot. As a brokerage, we need to come up with 30 people to do cleanup and maintenance on a daycare center that caters to low-income earners. We've done this before, at a different center, a couple of years ago. We go in and paint, repair walls, clean classrooms, and whatever else needs doing. We were desperately short of bodies. I'm not as agile as I once was, but I can still scrub down a kids' classroom with the best of them. And I know people with strong backs and a willingness to work.
This is why I joined this brokerage, and I've returned to this topic more than once in the two and a half years since I made that choice. When you look up the statistics for corporate social responsibility, they say that getting about 43% of your employees to participate in volunteer programs is about average, good even. Our record is 100%. Not every agent shows up to every single project. There's just no way to schedule that. But every single one of us has made it to at least one project so far. In the few years that our brokerage has existed, we have contributed over $47,000 in volunteer hours and actual donated materials. (The value of one volunteer hour in Fort Collins for calendar year 2018 is over $25.00.) Last year they waived the requirement that each agent lead their own project, and our numbers went down a bit, but they are pushing us a little more stringently this year. I have a contact of the United Way down here in my county (since most of the things the brokerage does are focused on Larimer or Weld counties), and I am going to ask him for agencies who might need something we can do from my house. In the past, we've made fleece blankets for homeless shelters. Those are always needed, even in warm weather. There's a shelter that needs cot sheets mended or sewn. I could do something like that. Or we could do a donation drive or put together survival kits for people who live on the streets. I've wanted to do that one for a year now. I know there is some sort of way I can put idle hands to work while we are sitting around playing D&D or watching sports on TV. It can be yet another bonding experience for my circle of friends, and I can tell you from experience that it makes you feel really good. Who doesn't like that?
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