Stories

Tune in to this episode of Volunteer Voices, to hear from Melissa, a member of the Fusion team, about how she has started a volunteering tradition with her co-workers!

Katie: Melissa, thank you for joining me for this Volunteer Voices segment where we hear from people like you about why you're giving your time in your community and what you're getting out of it. Can you tell me a little bit about your volunteerism. What are you doing? 

Melissa: I started volunteering with JDRF in college my senior year. I did my internship with them. The big volunteer event that I helped with and I'm still a part of is their annual gala. They raise funds for researching type one diabetes.

Katie: Why are you giving your time? What are you? What are you getting out of it?

Melissa: I think that it's really important to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself. I feel like we all get caught up in our day to day, but it really feels good to help support these different organizations that rely on everyday people to give their time. A lot of them are not successful without the support of others, and when we're able to help support them, they can focus on their mission, whether it's providing services to a particular group of people or raising funds. Whatever that public can do to help even spread awareness of what that organization is doing, I think it's really fulfilling.

Katie: You know, you spoke to something there. You spoke to the impact of giving your time. I think there's nothing more valuable that we can give than our precious hours in the day.

Melissa: Definitely.

Katie: What what would you tell other people who are are thinking to themselves: 'I don't have time to volunteer.'

Melissa: Yeah, I think that even if it's an hour out of your day, out of your week, even out of your month. That little bit of time makes the biggest difference. The big event that I help with each year, it can feel like a lot of work. But it's just once a year, and the reward that I get back, it's just so worth it. And I've gotten my coworkers at Fusion involved as well in the last few years. My connections at JDRF always reach out every year asking specifically for Fusion employees because they're so blown away by how we all have contributed. And it continues to grow each year. It's also fulfilling to see that it's not just me that is being able to give back. It's also spreading throughout the others that I know here at work. So that's always really nice to see as well.

Katie: Do you have a favorite memory from that time with with your colleagues?

Melissa: It's just really exciting to see them care about something that means a lot to me. It can be a long night (at the gala), and to just see how excited they are to be a part of it is my favorite part. When they tell other people in the following year, 'Hey, you should be a part of this, too, because I had so much fun last year. I learned so much about the cause. It was really rewarding to see how much money they raised, and just be a part of something that gives back in such a huge way.' Seeing that effect is really awesome, too.

Katie: You're building community with your coworkers through giving back.

Melissa: For sure. That's amazing. 

Katie: Do you feel like you've learned things along the way, volunteering?

Melissa: Oh, incredibly so. One of my favorite memories with this organization as a whole was my first year that I was a part of this. They actually had a huge snowstorm during that gala, and it took out a lot of the volunteers that had previously previously signed up. Because the weather was so bad only a few of us could get there. It was really really cool to see how they were able to make this work with what we had. We had to really think on our feet, but we were actually able to find a way to live stream the event. Guests were able to still watch the everything go on and be able to bid on live auction items and the silent auction items. It was amazing, because they ended up raising more money than all the previous years. So that was really cool moment. Because, you know, things sometimes just don't work out like you plan.

Katie: Melissa, what would you tell other people who haven't found that right fit for volunteering yet?

Melissa: Do whatever opportunities pop up that you might even be a little bit interested in. I think the more different organizations that you connect with and try, even if it's through your work, through things you see on Facebook, just any route where something comes available to you, try it. Because the only thing that you're really losing out on is time helping others. And that's not really losing anything at all. So if you really connect with that organization, and it becomes something that you dedicate a lot more time to in the future, that's worth it. 

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