About a year ago, the city received a fantastic donation from Leo Hill who was city manager for Columbia in the 1950's. Leo wanted the city to use the funds to create a volunteer award in honor of Howard Lang who was Mayor of the city when he served as manager.
After some discussion, the award was defined to be given to someone who has served our local government - through service as an elected official, on a board or commission, with a special effort or project or as a volunteer in any way. The recipient will be awarded based on impact, initiative and length of service and will receive a $1,000 prize, that they may choose to receive or give to an organization. The nominations for the award are due Jan. 9.
Yesterday I had an interesting call from a young man who was inquiring about the award. He wondered if he started his service now if he might qualify for the award. He also asked if he could nominate himself. I told him while he was welcome to nominate himself or let someone he works with know he is interested, I told him that I expected the nominees to be people who had volunteered for a long period of time in some form of service.
Hmmm... maybe I should have been more encouraging with this young man. I think his call surprised me more than anything else. Maybe the economy is so tough that people are willing to volunteer in the hope of receiving a cash prize. In any event, his call reminded me that volunteering is a long-haul commitment - it's not a sprint. It's difficult for anyone who volunteers to make a big impact in just a few weeks - even if we give it our all! We must be willing to put in our time over a long period and be patient to see the results.
