In Love and Service

As we head into the shortest month of the year, red hearts begin to pop up in storefront windows, chocolate finds its biggest market of the year, and dinner reservations pile up for the evening of February 14th. Regardless of whether you embrace the holiday with romantic gusto or lament its consumerist stronghold, Valentines Day is just around the corner.

Each year, Hands On Greater Portland celebrates this day through its Heart of the Community Awards Luncheon, which honors the love, commitment, and hard work shown by some amazing volunteers and nonprofit partners in our community.

It’s also a time when those of us in the volunteer management realm begin to wonder aloud… how many volunteers foster a different kind of love through their commitment to service?

Meet Lydia and Justin. In her day to day, Lydia promotes volunteerism in college campuses across Oregon through her work with Campus Compact. Justin just finished an AmeriCorps term of service through the Northwest Service Academy. A couple with a conscience, the two also make time to volunteer with Hands On in their free time, whether it be hilling potatoes at Zenger Farm, sorting through building materials at the Rebuilding Center, or weeding garden plots at a Get Out and Garden work party with Portland Community Gardens. In fact, it was at a Hands On project that Lydia and Justin first met, while touring the Hillsboro landfill as part of a April Eco Challenge TeamWorks back in 2007.

“Justin and I share a lot of common interests, so volunteering provided us a venue for exploring issues we both find important while getting to know one another better. Meeting for the first time on a Hands On project gave us a way to immediately connect around both the topic at hand (sustainability and environmental stewardship) and our shared value of being involved in the community.”

Lydia believes its only natural that she would meet her significant other through a venue like Hands On.

“Whether it's something done with family, friends, significant others or complete strangers, volunteering connects people. It allows individuals to come together around the common goal of creating stronger communities. The great thing about Hands On is that you're free to focus your time and energy on projects relating to one specific issue or focus, or you can change up where you volunteer as often as you'd like. Throughout our relationship volunteering has definitely been a great way to spend time together while getting out, meeting new people and staying connected to the community.”

We see similar comments in the feedback we receive after projects, as volunteers express excitement at connecting with a like-minded individual, making a new friend, and growing closer to family members through a shared commitment to serve and strengthen the community in which we live.

Next time you sign up for a project, why not invite a friend, bring a family member, or strike up a conversation with another volunteer on the project? You never know what kind of connection you might make!

What’s your Hands On love story? How has volunteering brought you closer to those you care about? We’d love to hear your stories! Feel free to post them in a comment or send your reflections to melia@handsonportland.org