Ed uses volunteering as a way to connect to his community

The last six weeks of the year is a time when people who feel blessed in life typically give back to their communities.  In the spirit of the holidays, people volunteer at food banks or work with those who are less fortunate. At United Way, we decided to ask our employees and community members to share, in their own words, a memorable volunteer experience they’ve had.  Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing some of them here in the blog. Ed Oh, is the MatchBridge Communication Specialist, as well as an AVP with the Marketing Department.

“To me, volunteering is an awesome use of time. I believe that while profits and good business models can help drive a business, volunteering and community action, work to drive communities and define individuals. People help people because it’s the right thing to do, but whom you help is up to you and is a self-definitive decision. Think about the last person you helped and why. The reason why, I bet, is a personal one.

Volunteering is no different. In my case, I’m Asian, so I care about the struggles of my fellow Asian Americans. I want to be kept up to date, I want to be informed, and I want to help. So it makes sense that when I volunteer my time, it’s with Hyphen, a volunteer-run, pop-culture magazine aimed at informing and empowering young Asian Americans.

Twice a month, I attend meetings and offer my services as a strategic and organizational consultant. What really gets me about the volunteers that run the magazine is how much fun each and every one of them has with the job. Everyone is passionately working together and making miracles happen to produce each issue of the magazine and to pull off their events, no matter how trying the circumstances. It’s truly an inspiration to see people going so far out of their way and flexing all of their power for a cause they believe in and it really made me reflect on my own passions and how far I’d be willing to go for them. My colleague at Hyphen put it best, ‘It’s really quite simple. Volunteering is fun when you’re focused on an issue that truly matters to you. If you’ve got that, then all of a sudden, you can’t get enough.’ Well said.

During my time volunteering, I’ve made friends and connections with people whom I may never have come across but who have so much in common with me. I’ve learned so much from my fellow volunteers about specific issues and facts that I would never have discovered on my own or from other people not vested in the cause. I feel like I gain so much even though I’m supposedly giving. And truly, at the end of the day, I not only feel like I got to help my community, but also myself.

So for your own sake, volunteer!”