By Sandy Wieber — Bob Frazee of Carroll County has always loved farming. He grew up on a farm in western Maryland, and he’s currently the CEO of MidAtlantic Farm Credit, an agricultural lender headquartered in Westminster.

So, when he was looking for a volunteer opportunity, he looked for an organization that fit with his personal passions. On October 9, he spent a day working at Gardens of Hope, an urban agriculture project in Upton.

“It was a phenomenal day,” says Frazee. “It was definitely hard work, but it didn’t matter. I loved working in the soil, and seeing a huge difference from when we started to when we finished. It felt really good to help.”

That’s what Nan Bambara, director of business relations for Business Volunteers Unlimited Maryland, calls a perfect “mission match.”

“If you’re going to volunteer,” Bambara says, “you should be passionate about the work that the organization is doing.”

In the past six years, BVU has helped more than 30,000 people find the right volunteer activity. Bambara’s organization works with over 400 non-profits in Maryland, helping to recruit and organize volunteers. One way they do this is to coordinate corporate service days. That task starts with finding a mission match for the company that’s volunteering.

“We survey the company to find out what their employees are interested in, and what issues pertain to them and their industry. Then we find a volunteer experience that dovetails with that,” says Bambara.

Something for Everyone

What if you don’t know what you’re passionate about? What if you don’t have any hobbies that translate to volunteer work?

It’s far more likely that you just don’t know about the opportunities around you.

“There is something for everyone,” emphasizes Bambara. As an example, she tells the story of a local executive who wanted to be on the board of a nonprofit. She asked him what issues made his blood boil. He couldn’t think of anything. She asked him if there were any stories in the news that touched him, and made him think about helping someone. There weren’t. Finally, she asked him if there was anything in his childhood that changed his life—a single event or person that made him who he was today.

“He mentioned that he loved the debate team when he was younger,” she says. Bingo. She matched him with the Baltimore urban Debate League, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “enrich the academic experience of students from Baltimore City’s schools through participation in team debate.”

Studies have shown that students who participate in debate are almost twice as likely to go on to college and to pursue college immediately after high school.

Lobby for Your Hobby

You don’t have to look to your past to find a good fit. Consider the work of Jaclyn Truncellito, the program director for Back on My Feet’s Baltimore chapter.

Back on My Feet is a nonprofit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of the homeless population by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength, and self-esteem.

“We work with four Baltimore organizations: MCVET, Helping Out Mission, Christopher’s Place, and Baltimore Station,” she says. “About 15-20 people run in each group – including the volunteers. They meet, warm up and take off.

Those are just a few of the hundreds of opportunities around the state. One of them is perfect for you. If you’re looking for a volunteer organization, stop by the Business Volunteers Unlimited website at www.bvumaryland.org. As many volunteers have learned, when you help others do what you love, the experience is all the more rewarding.

Sources:
Bob Frazee, MidAtlantic Farm Credit, 800.333.7950, bfrazee@mafc.com
Nan Bambara, BVU Maryland, 410.366.1722 (direct), nbambara@bvumaryland.org
Pam Spiliadis, Baltimore Urban Debate League, 410.752.2835, pam@budl.org
Jackie Truncellito, Back on my Feet, 215.350.4198 (cell), 410.617.2991 (office), Jackie@backonmyfeet.org

— December 4, 2009