Last night, I provided City Council a report of volunteer hours for FY08 (Oct. 1, 07 - Sept. 30, 08). The great news is that volunteers shared 43,323 hours of service - an 8% increase from the previous year. We estimate that more than 8,000 people volunteered in some way for the city during this time. Members of City Council had many positive things to say about the volunteer program and expressed their appreciation to the many citizens who contribute to the program's success.
Using the national value of $19.51, this time is worth more than $845,000. While putting a dollar figure to this contribution has become fairly easy, I don't think it reflects the true value of volunteering. The true value is in the ownership volunteers have in the community, the pride they can show by being a part of our city services and activities and the relationships they make along the way.
Over the last few years, Columbia has gone through the Visioning process with hundreds of citizens thinking about the future of our community. In the end, the Vision summary is stated:
Columbia will be a connected, informed and engaged community. I find that encouraging. The very vision that has been created is exactly the same thing that volunteers have been doing for Columbia for years!!
Congratulations to our volunteers on a great year and thank you to the more than 8,000 who made this positive report possible.
Leigh Britt
