Cheers To Our Volunteers

Location: The Four Seasons Hotel

Date: Monday, November 26, 2012; 6:00-9:00 pm

The words say it all

As I stated in my first article, volunteers do things without any expectations of a reward.  They are committed to serving the community, be it activities for children from low income families, mentoring troubled youth, or companionship for our senior citizens.  However, what is usually lost is that volunteers are human too and while no one wants a parade, an occasional pat on the back can not only energize everyone, but also inspire them to continue with their efforts.  This was the annual Chicago Cares celebration for their volunteers.

I had met Irina when we had volunteered for the Mock Interviews at San Obrero Mission and had decided to go for the party together.  The party was to be held in the ‘The Four Seasons Hotel’, as swanky a place as can be found.  What I had learned was that Four Seasons was one of the sponsors and had kindly donated the use of their facilities for the evening.  I met Irina in the lobby and we rode up to the ballroom.  Right from the outset, I realized that this was going to be a fun night when at the check-in I saw one of the volunteers hug her friend, and ended up receiving one as well when I asked if this was the normal greeting protocol.  We saw some of the volunteer leaders that I had worked with, like Aly and Thomas, who thanked us for the work that we had done with their projects.  We got some food and chatted about our experiences with Chicago Cares.  A bit later we were asked to join everyone in the grand ballroom, where they were going to be handing out the awards.

The awards ceremony

 

We took our place at a table and listened to the speakers talk about the work Chicago Cares was able to accomplish this year and the volunteer’s contributions towards the overall mission.  Some of the awards handed out were for the Volunteer who embodies the spirit of the organization as well as for the Volunteer Leader of the year.  Since the people considered for these awards are nominated, I thought it would be great if I was in a position to nominate someone for next year’s honor, either a leader or a volunteer.  I even joked with Irina that it could be her.  As a matter of fact, any one of us could someday be worthy of it and the person winning the award was really accepting it on behalf of the thousands of people who work with Chicago Cares.

People were there to have fun

After the awards the DJ took over and many proceeded to the dance floor.  Irina and I had a better idea, since the desserts were not being served.  We got some pastries and continued to chat about our time in the city and what had led us to volunteering.  We chatted with Aly, who was the volunteer leader for the project where Irina and I had met, and so she knew both of us.  She told us about some of the other projects that she was involved with and we promised to check them out.  As we walked out, they handed us souvenir tee shirts and Thomas joked that I should get two since I had earned it; possibly referring to my last Mock Interviews session where none of the other volunteers had shown up on time and Thomas and I had to run the session by ourselves.  I smiled, but what I really wanted to tell him was that it was my privilege to be involved. 

Now this is a party

Irina and I said goodbye, promising to stay in touch.  I walked home thinking about all of the people in that room and the selfless deeds that they do every day.  This also includes ‘The Four Seasons’ as well as the corporate sponsors, who support Chicago Cares.  When I reached home I opened the shirt that I had received.  ‘People Are The Answer’ it says on the front.  From what I had seen this evening, we are in good hands.