I volunteer!

“I volunteer!” she screams as she pushes her way to the front. “I volunteer as tribute!” The shocked crowd gasps as all eyes turn to Katniss Everdeen.

If you haven’t read the Hunger Games series or have yet to see the movie, just watch the trailer and you’ll no longer be living under a rock.

Katniss’ offer to volunteer in her sister’s place at the annual Hunger Games slaughtering—I mean, competition—is the ultimate sacrifice. And thank goodness most of us won’t ever find ourselves in that position! But a little bit of sacrifice is exactly what we should give when we volunteer.

I went to a charity event last month and was blown away by the activities and mission of this organization. It made me think about the people involved and what it takes to run such a successful program—then something happened. I wanted to join them. I wanted to make a difference.

“But I’m so busy with my job, going to the gym, keeping up with friends and spending time with my husband and dogs. I don’t even have kids, yet, and I struggle to find the time to fit everything in!” Insert your own personal activities and family members and my internal dialogue would probably match yours at one point or another; long story short, it’s hard. But that’s just it—volunteering should be a little hard. It takes some sacrifice, and you have to MAKE time to do it.

I took the plunge and offered to donate my PR expertise and time to this awesome nonprofit. This won’t be easy, and I’m already stuffed to the gills at the office with regular, billable work, but it’s important and I’m glad to do it. I’m so thankful that I have a really understanding and flexible team here at Ketner Group, and they’re also glad that I’m volunteering. We all want to at some point, it’s just finding that time. Or maybe the right organization that calls out to you like none did before.

I hope to talk more about my volunteering work, maybe more about the nonprofit when things start progressing. So stay tuned! And let me know about your volunteering adventures!