Location: Old Town Pour House
Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2013; 7:00-9:00 pm
The first time I heard about One
Brick was when Wilson asked Amanda if she was going to come participate in the
Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament. That
night as I checked out the website, I noticed this event and immediately sent
Wilson an email saying that he had to get me in, well in for the Happy Hour, not
necessarily the tournament. With a few
One Brick events under my belt, I was looking forward to attending and
socializing with the other volunteers.
Plus, Wilson had told me that these people took their
Rock-Paper-Scissors very seriously and I wanted to see that first-hand.
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| March Madness! |
Not having grown up in the US,
this American institution of Rock-Paper-Scissors was quite unfamiliar to
me. Not only is it one of the
peaceful ways for people to resolve their differences and reach a decision – we used to flip a coin – but it has also evolved into an International Competition. I remember seeing an article in one of the
in-flight magazines about the strategies that people employ for this game,
though I had failed to memorize them.
Thus, I arrived at the venue with no knowledge or intention of
playing. I saw some of the usual members
from One Brick and upon introductions; many recognized me as the ‘newsletter
writer’. I do not remember accepting that
position, but apparently others had already assigned me to that role. Soon we were joined by Irina and Wilson.
In one corner of the room, a
bracket had been mounted for people to sign-up for the tournament. Seeing the people rush to put their name
down, one would have thought this was some sort of a lucky draw for concert tickets. I was happy to stand aside and watch them,
but soon they realized that they were two people short, and Wilson tried to
recruit me and Irina into playing.
Reluctantly I agreed and the first round of the tournament began. I was playing against Irina and the winner would be determined by a best of three. I proceeded
to lose in two and thought I was eliminated.
But for some reason they had another round with all the same
participants and I proceeded to lose in two again. Wilson, who was supposed to be taking pictures
for the One Brick photo gallery, had been caught up in the tournament and only realized after
most of the tournament had been played that he had forgotten to take
pictures. He asked me and Irina to pose
for a few pictures and as we played a ‘mock game’, I lost each round of that as
well. I had managed to lose each and
every round, not just game, but each round of the event tonight!
Tonight’s event was not just a
opportunity to socialize and play a tournament, it was also a fund raiser for
One Brick. We had all pitched in for
entry and all that money was going to pay in parts for all of the activities
that One Brick does. This is a
Volunteer-Run Volunteer Organization, and as such, does not have a physical
office or even a telephone number. According to their website, “On a National level, we only have a single
part-time employee who works from home and is responsible for paying the bills,
dealing with legal and regulatory filings and ensuring the whole thing stays
together. Everything else we do is facilitated by a team of volunteers working
together to make a difference. Their efforts are returned exponentially with
the impact we have on our communities.”
It started back in December 2001 in San Francisco and now has more than
10 chapters, including the one in Chicago.
The websites goes on to elaborate on the principles under which One
Brick operates: “Every One Brick project
we arrange is treated as a stand-alone event. Our 'commitment-free
volunteering' allows people to choose when they volunteer, rather than
having to make commitments for a certain number of volunteer hours, or agree to
be available every week at a specific time. This flexibility makes volunteering
convenient and provides opportunities to help when time and schedule
commitments allow. This keeps volunteering from being a chore, but rather makes
it an easy and enjoyable choice.” This
model has to date, led to One Brick completing 12,861 events, delivering
465,910 hours of community service!`
Of those 12,861 events, one of
the Volunteers, Gary, has attended 300. He
was honored tonight for his 300th event and was presented with a
certificate. It was not in an expensive
frame, neither was it signed by a Governor.
But all in the room understood its significance. I asked Wilson how many One Brick events he
had attended and he said only a 100 or so.
Considering he does lots of other things, we can perhaps give him a pass
on this one.
I left with Irina and we were
having a light supper at a nearby restaurant and discussing One Brick and
volunteering in general. I told Irina
about the wall in my cubicle and how I have filled it with pictures and souvenirs
from my volunteering events. She asked
me what my colleagues think of that and I said that they maybe consider me to be an
eccentric and probably do not bother to notice or even care. She shook her head and said that whether I
knew or even realized this or not, I was noticed and people would definitely
know about what I was doing. In either
case, it has never been my intention to be noticed, though at every opportunity, I try to
promote some of the causes.
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| My Wall |
The next day I was filling out a
survey for a student who had requested help with a thesis on volunteering. She wanted to know why people volunteer. Quite honestly, I volunteer because I
can. I have said it before, I volunteer
because I have time and because the more I do it; the more I realize how much
help is needed by people in our community.
Somebody has to do it, and just as One Brick say’s in its charter,
volunteering should not be a chore. It
never has been for me. I looked at the
wall in my cubicle, now full of color and one of Wilson’s question's came back to
me. He had once asked me how much Arts
and Crafts I had done prior to Chicago Cares and I had said none since early
school. Now I cannot wait for those
projects. My colleagues had always said
that my workspace often looked dull and without color. Now its looks like a child’s play room. And I am proud of it.
People often say how much they
admire my work and how sorry they are for being unable to give so much time
to these causes. I tell them there is nothing
to be sorry about. Everyone does what
they can and it doesn’t matter whether you do it for an hour or for 100 hours,
it is the thought that counts. I
repeat, I do it because I can. I will
never think anything less of someone who has never volunteered, though they are
missing out on an enriching experience.
Then when they ask me why I volunteer so much, I smile and I respond; “I volunteer so that you don’t have to”.
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