JFY 1st Monthly Volunteer Newsletter!

Check it out folks - Jobs For Youth has just pubilshed its first monthly Volunteer Newsletter!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/JFY-Volunteer-Newsletter--March-2011.html?soid=1102667877481&aid=5pnQKW70IDI

Learn why this program is important to me by checking out my blog post "Give & Get" and also by clicking on the "JFY It's what's buzzin" tab at the top of my blog, which will also tell you how you can get involved yourself by either volunteering or donating tax-deductable dollars!

Give & Get

“If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart.” – Arabian Proverb

“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Strength of Love

Hello again ye peoples! My apologies for the recent radio silence – it seems I was stricken by a serious case of senioritis last week.  Add that to a healthy dosage of final papers and presentations and you’ve got one tired Fly On Da Wall feeling rather swatted.  Nevertheless, let’s get down to business.

As some of you may know from poking around the other pages of this blog, I have been on a mission the past few weeks to both raise awareness and some money for a Chicago organization called Jobs For Youth (“JFY”).  While I’ve been unsuccessful in soliciting volunteers or generating any donations outside of my own thus far, I remained resolute in my goal to get involved on my own and so completed a volunteer session this past Monday.  After contacting the organization’s volunteer coordinator, a fellow classmate who informally introduced me to JFY, I filled out a simple 2-pg form and signed up to assist by conducting mock interviews for two JFY clients. 

During my lunch hour I popped over to the JFY office, acquired two job application/resume packets from the volunteer services coordinator and “interviewed” two amazing young ladies.  Considering I have never been on the interviewer’s side of the table before, I admittedly was very nervous.  I arrived early so I could get instructions and get settled so I could establish some level of comfort and poise but still started off feeling akin to a fish out of water.  I was given instructions to role play with the clients for about 20 minutes as though it were a real interview and then come out of character to debrief them, get their feedback and give them my own brief summary. 

At the end of the first interview I gave one piece of advice to the young woman that I had actually been implementing myself during the entire process with her – control your breathing in order to control your nerves!  It’s so simple when you think about it, and it makes a huge impact in your ability to display confidence.  Now, I’m not saying that if you control your breathing you won’t be nervous.  However, it gives you a better chance at getting oxygen to your brain that in turn helps you moderate your heart rate, which affects your breathing and speech patterns, enabling you to speak clearly, coherently, and respond in kind.  For a simple pointer I admit it does take a deliberate effort to implement, and some practice.

Both young women were so bright, engaged, friendly and full of potential.  After completing an evaluation form for each I left the building feeling really impressed and totally inspired.  Going through the process myself, getting involved and volunteering just a little of my time felt amazing beyond words.  Knowing that Jobs For Youth exists, that it provides such a valuable resource and service and enable these outstanding young men and women to acquire the necessary tools to open the doors of opportunity in their lives, is truly motivational. 

This experience has opened my eyes and my heart in a way that is tough to explain in words, which is why I chose the two quotes that opened this blog post.  Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how much or how little money you have – you always have the resources of personal time and energy to give to others.  Also, it doesn’t matter where you come from, what walk of life you travel, if we’re ever to live up to the implied standard of what it means to be the United States of America, each and every one of us needs to become more involved in the wellbeing of our fellow citizens of humanity.  We must all be social entrepreneurs, not out of guilt but out compassion and ultimately out of a sense of pride in the potential we all posses to be greater than our individual selves.  Barriers and inequalities that give rise to the need for organizations like Jobs For Youth can be permanently destroyed if we just band together and commit to making philanthropy, volunteerism, and helpfulness a way of life.

If you take anything away from this blog post, let it be this: that there’s nothing more fulfilling or gratifying than the feeling you get from giving to others without expectation.