What Makes Volunteering All Worth While

In my work with BC Digital Divide, one meets all kinds of people: good, not very good, and everything in between. The ones that irritate me beyond belief are those who have seemingly (and unnecessarily) been on government assistance all of their lives. They've got the victim acting role down to a fine art and play it for all it's worth. In the worst cases, there's absolutely no gratitude. It's all about them, all about how hard done by they are. 3 words come to mind: Take, Take, Take!!!

But thankfully they're in the small minority of people we meet. Maybe we're just better at screening them out early on than government agencies are. Also, unlike government agencies, we actually don't have to respond to them.

The true gems are the ones that keep me motivated. Such is the case with a young Guatemalan family that has truly touched my heart. The parents, Manuel & Isabel, moved here about 12 years ago. They have a son, Brian, and a younger daughter, Shirley. They've become more than mere recipients to me. This evening I was visiting them and reminiscing about the party I held last weekend, which they attended. Because of some gifts I brought them on behalf of another friend, they gave me this little handmade gift to give to my friend's wife. She's a music teacher and in fact, just purchased some xylophones for her classes. She will be very touched.



No real moral here other than for all of us to ignore the selfish, greedy, rude folks we encounter every day and instead focus our hearts & minds on the great ones we encounter perhaps a bit less frequently.