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They Say Time Is Money, So Who's Asking For Yours?

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 24, 2007

Updated: 12/23/2007 08:22 pm

Given the economic downturn, social service agencies know this spring's legislative session will be painful. Yet legions of nonprofits are lining up with palms outstretched, looking for some sort of Tallahassee Santa Claus.

Their ranks include advocates for the homeless, the disabled and the mentally ill. Affordable housing is high on the wish list. So, too, is more money for foster parents, and grandparents who keep their grandchildren out of foster care.

But what if these organizations were to make a different pitch?

What if rather than asking for money in these tight times, these nonprofits asked for volunteer hours - something small, like two hours a week?

Florida has one of the lowest rates of volunteer participation, yet its ranks of retirees - 3 million strong - are filled with talent waiting to be tapped.

Here's the pitch:

Spend a few hours a week with foster children so that their foster parents can have a break.

Cook dinner for this grandmother who is raising her grandchildren.

Tutor a child who is struggling to read.

Coach a basketball team of at-risk youth.

Jack Levine, a longtime advocate for Florida's children and families, makes a persuasive pitch for encouraging volunteerism in these tight times. He also argues that we're ignoring one of our most valuable resources: retirees not ready for the rocking chair.

If 10,000 people were to volunteer two hours a week, Levine notes that adds up to one million hours of public service.

Think of the impact.

The challenge is to create a system that connects people who want to give of their time with social-service groups that need their help. Levine believes Florida's guardian ad litem program is a good model for how to connect volunteers with those in need.

"I believe in people's heart of hearts, they really want to be connected," he says. "Isolation is a terrible thing."

But human nature seems we wait to be asked.

It's not that our communities don't embrace volunteerism. Hands On Tampa Bay and Volunteer Florida keep up-to-date lists of volunteer opportunities.

Still, it's one thing to scan a list of organizations. It's another to receive a personal appeal to give of your time.

Levine says that in Leesburg, a retired business executive bought lunch for 60 friends, gave them a pitch on volunteering and signed them all up for local projects.

So here is the challenge for social services agencies looking forlornly at the lean budget year ahead.

Think about solutions beyond money.

Think about how you can ask good people for their time.

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