How many jobs have you worked at where you were paid in smiles and “thank-yous”?
Any business owner would tell you their company would fold faster than a cheap suit if the only form of payment they offered their employees was a pat on the back and a look of appreciation.
Despite this truth, in the U.S. roughly 8 billion hours worked last year alone were not compensated monetarily. So who are these selfless Americans and why in the world would they ever agree to such outrageous terms?
You may have already guessed the “who” refers to volunteers, but “why” of the question cannot be so concisely deduced. The reasons behind all this altruistic self-sacrifice are as varied as the 64 million people that choose to donate their time.
Whatever the reasons, one thing is sure. These truly amazing individuals are worth their collective weight in gold. Without their generosity organizations all over the country would be shelling out a collective $171 billion every year.
As National Volunteer Month officially kicks off this week, we at Partnership 4 Kids would like to take a minute to personally pay homage to the 400+ volunteers that keep our programs alive and our students engaged. You don’t have to do what you do, but you do it anyway and for that reason alone, you are truly PRICELESS. Happy National Volunteer Month and thanks for P4K-ing it forward!
*To find out more about volunteering with Partnership 4 Kids, visit www.p4k.org/give/volunteer/
