Looking for a few good men
“We decided to start this campaign for two reasons,” said Kendall Stiles, director of the GIVE Center. “First we want to get more males to volunteer and second, we want them to become more aware of some of the things that they do that are considered volunteering. Many guys are firefighters and coach sports and do not even realize that what they are doing can be counted for community service hours.”
The GIVE Center decided to start this campaign after noticing that nationwide only 20 percent of community service hours were completed by males. After reviewing the hours from the 2007-2008 school year, Stiles found that this was also the trend on the Georgia College campus. Only 10,802 hours, which is around 21.9 percent of the total amount of hours, were attributed to men. This led to the GIVE Center wanting to raise awareness for men to volunteer.
For this kick-off event, the GIVE Center brought in organizations that would appeal to males such as Baldwin County Parks and Recreation, Special Olympics, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Test on the 10th and the Baldwin County Fire Department.
“Around 70 percent of the children we serve are males and we always need good role models for these children,” said Patricia Williamson, Director of Partnerships for Big Brothers Big Sisters. “Females are more apt to get out there and get involved. It is more difficult for males to get out there and take the first step in signing up, which is why I think this campaign is great.”
They also gave free lunch to males who registered to volunteer with the GIVE Center and raffled off gift certificates to local restaurants.
Thomas Bolton, a criminal justice major at GCSU, has been volunteering with the Baldwin Country Fire Department for a year.
“I volunteer because I like helping people,” said Bolton. “I feel like if you don’t get out there and help, then no one will. I think that males see volunteering as unattractive because they are not making any money out of it. I also think it is hard for males to make such a serious commitment, such as going through firefighter training.”
Throughout the year, the GIVE Center will continue to encourage males to volunteer by rewarding those who track their hours.
“When they reach 50 hours of community service, they will receive a Strong Enough To Care T-shirt,” said Stiles. “We are also going to be hosting ball games with Test on The 10th for the guys on our campus. Also, at the end of the year the male and female with the most community service hours will receive a free iPod.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 10 2008. Filed under News.
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