Setting the Example

United States Airman Devin Williams was sitting in an Alaskan internet café searching for ways to improve volunteerism at the Kadena Airbase in Okinawa, Japan. As the president of the volunteer organization Kadena Top 3 Okinawa Outreach Chapter, Williams was looking to strengthen the program’s reach to make a larger impact on the Okinawan community. He found VolunteerNow and its volunteer management courses, which were able to give Williams the knowledge he needed to fulfill his mission. Thanks to a well-timed visit back to the States, and generous support from the Amon G. Carter Foundation given through a scholarship, Williams attended the “Preventing Volunteer Burnout” training on June 22.

“With Americans, volunteering is a national past time,” Williams said. “Community service is at the core of who we are. We help our neighbors and give our time and weekends, even after long days at work. In the Japanese community, volunteerism is not as strong.”

Williams’ group, The Okinawa Outreach Chapter, has several core projects surrounding community outreach. Most notably, airmen from the Kadena base complete landscaping and beautification projects at a local nursing home. At the nursing home, residents’ family members are held responsible for paying a monthly fee for these services, but Okinawa Outreach relieves the families of the financial burden through his group’s volunteer work, Williams said.  By supporting local families through the nursing home and other projects, Williams is working to change the cultural outlook toward volunteering.

Additional resources - including VolunteerNow trainings - empower volunteer managers such as Williams to design and implement effective and meaningful volunteer programs, which translates to more volunteers transforming their community. After attending the “Preventing Volunteer Burnout” course, which focused on the historical perspectives of volunteers and provided research-backed methods for preventing burnout, Williams said he feels equipped and ready to boost his program back in Okinawa.

“What stuck out to me about Devin is volunteer work is something that he has got a passion for,” Shannon said. “He is doing a tremendous amount of work with volunteerism in Okinawa, and with various organizations.”

While Williams attended the course for the benefit of the Okinawa Outreach Chapter, he believes he can apply it to airmen and women who face burnout during their four-to-six year enlistment as well. Many times people do not re-enlist because they feel a lack of resources or a lack of support, which is similar to the reasons why volunteers face burnout, he said.

“Sometimes people just kind of quit, and they’re sitting around waiting for their exit date,” Williams said. “I think there is definitely a lot of re-energizing for our people for what their mission and focus is, and I think that’s something that I can definitely take back as well. The same factors that keep volunteers around could keep our airmen around as well.”

VolunteerNow’s volunteer management courses aim to give organizations the skillsets and resources they need in order to effectively work with volunteers. This ensures volunteers have a good experience and continue to strengthen the organization that they are working with, Shannon said.

“I think the biggest way that you spread the importance of something is through the example that you set,” Williams said. “I think volunteering is sort of the same deal; we want to give back and show them why we give back, talk to them about why we do this and then encourage them to do the same thing.”