The Intentional Volunteer Podcast - Episode 007 Motivation

Service is driven by the depth of the “why,” so in Episode 7 of The Intentional Volunteer Podcast, Cari Berlin, John Bobb-Semple, and Dr. Shari Zimmerman discuss personal motivation to volunteer. Drawing on both academic research and individual experience, Cari, John, and Shari talk about the reasons people started volunteering and how it continues to affect them today.  

John McCain said, “Every day people serve their neighbors and our nation in many different ways, from helping a child learn and easing the loneliness of those without a family to defending our freedom overseas. It is in the spirit of this dedication to others and to our country that I believe service should be broadly and deeply encouraged.” Whether it’s trauma, travel, or a life-shattering realization, the voices on today’s episode delve into the myriad reasons people are intentional volunteers.

Thanks to Kirk, Judy, Lorraine, Ray, Mario, Chancen, Brenda, Axel, Cory, and Katie for contributing to this episode! We hope that you will join them in the conversation at www.TheIntentionalVolunteer.com.

Mentions:

• History of volunteerism in the United States
• Why Tennessee is “The Volunteer State”
• Ernest Odunze in Episode 5
• John McCain volunteerism quote
• Food justice
• 1988 Armenian earthquake
• Incarceration of women in Oklahoma

Thanks to our sponsor, Crossover Radio. You can stream Crossover Radio at crossoverradio.org, download the app in the App Store or on Google Play, or connect at facebook.com/thecrossoverradio.

The Intentional Volunteer believes that you can change the world, your urge to help is a gift, and the best path to real change is listening, learning, and then serving. Join the conversation at www.theintentionalvolunteer.com.

The Intentional Volunteer Podcast- Episode 006

With 1.6 million registered charities in the United States - not to mention schools, faith communities, and individuals with a mission - there’s an overwhelming number of organizations at which you can volunteer. In Episode 6 of The Intentional Volunteer Podcast, hosts Cari Berlin and John Bobb-Semple, discuss bad fits, good fits, and how to decide.

With the help of Dr. Shari Zimmerman and Volunteer Extraordinaire Ray Haefele, this episode offers ideas on identifying what is important to you, locating organizations that fit, and starting your volunteer journey. You don’t have to worry about planting the entire forest; just focus on the tree right in front of you.

Mentions:

• Charity Navigator

• Connect with Ray Haefele

Join the conversation at www.theintentionalvolunteer.com.

Thanks to our sponsor, Crossover Radio. You can stream Crossover Radio at crossoverradio.org, download the app in the App Store or on Google Play, or connect at facebook.com/thecrossoverradio.

The Intentional Volunteer believes that you can change the world, your urge to help is a gift, and the best path to real change is listening, learning, and then serving.

The Intentional Volunteer Podcast- Episode 005

Working With Intention in a Community

This podcast is the first building block of helping listeners develop their own framework for volunteering.  Hosts Cari and John consider an updated definition of “community”, including geography-based communities and online communities. John confesses being a member of the “bald community” and the “Hamilton” community. Whether it’s working with a Boy Scout troop in Tulsa, OK or navigating “community” in Belarus, New York City’s Burroughs, the Balkan nation of Bulgaria or the slums of Kenya, the importance of doing the work to understand the community in which you serve.

John interviews Ernest Odunze, Community Outreach Director  at Restore OKC, who shares his journey to being an “accomplice”, serving the Northeast Oklahoma City community and the broader church into the work of reconciliation.

Quotes:

Cari - As a volunteer you can’t expect to know everything about a community, but you can certainly stay open to learning as you go.

John - It’s really healthy to be able to lean in, ask questions, and just be ok with not being the person in the room who is the expert.

Mentions:

• Restore OKC
• AmeriCorps
• Black Lives Matter OKC
• The Intentional Volunteer

Thanks to our sponsor, Crossover Radio. You can stream Crossover Radio at crossoverradio.org, download the app in the App Store or on Google Play, or connect at facebook.com/thecrossoverradio.

The Intentional Volunteer believes that you can change the world, your urge to help is a gift, and the best path to real change is listening, learning, and then serving.

The Intentional Volunteer Podcast- Episode 004

004: Volunteers Behaving Badly Part 2

Happy endings are what we look for when we try to help! As volunteers we are driven by a heart to give! People respond with heartfelt good intentions. But to be effective, an intentional volunteer is careful not to create additional barriers for the organization or individuals being served.

Hosts Cari and John continue the conversation about volunteers behaving badly – when volunteers unintentionally cause more harm than good. Cari recaps her story about volunteering in Belarus, and confesses that as soon as she went to work for the organization, she made a mistake when planning how to distribute toys to the children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.  

Cari - “I had failed to do the most basic things, which was to ask the folks who were doing the work”

John and Cari compare notes on living in tornado country, and share stories of relief efforts following the 2013 tornados in central Oklahoma.

Dr. Shari Zimmerman shares a story from her PhD research of a university research project that resulted in participants in a community garden program abandoning the garden. Cari introduces The Intentional Volunteer’s “west coast correspondent” Alli Holmes, an experienced volunteer and volunteer leader.

Mentions:

• Belarus and the Chernobyl Disaster
• The Anatomy of Giving by Augusta Dwyer
• AmeriCorps
• SBP -Organization responding to disasters
• Hurricane Sandy Fast Facts
• VOAD – Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters
• Consumer Report – Best Ways to Help in Aftermath of a Natural Disaster
• Charity Navigator – Tips for Giving in Times of Crisis
• The Intentional Volunteer “HELP” poster

Thanks to our sponsor, Crossover Radio. You can stream Crossover Radio at crossoverradio.org, download the app in the App Store or on Google Play, or connect at facebook.com/thecrossoverradio.

The Intentional Volunteer believes that you can change the world, your urge to help is a gift, and the best path to real change is listening, learning, and then serving.

The Intentional Volunteer Podcast- Episode 001

“I want to help, but I don’t know where to start.”
“Volunteering is my favorite part of my week.”

“I volunteer a lot, but I don’t know if I’m actually making a difference.”

“I tried to help, but nobody was interested in new ideas.”

If you resonate with any of these thoughts, The Intentional Volunteer Podcast is for you. Hosts Cari Berlin and John Bobb-Semple, along with Dr. Shari Zimmerman (Cari’s twin!), create a safe space to discuss the highs and lows of volunteering so that you can develop strategies for the greatest impact as a volunteer, while honoring the community and cause you serve.

This introductory episode gives you a glimpse into The Intentional Volunteer and its mission, along with the personal journeys of Cari and John into volunteerism, including both a short-lived stint as a candy striper and saving a youth shelter from closing at age 12. Cari and John discuss how that youthful enthusiasm can give way to both positive and negative experiences, but continue to ask the question, “How do we get from busyness...to tackling some of the really serious issues in a more effective way?”

The Intentional Volunteer believes that you can change the world, your urge to help is a gift, and the best path to real change is listening, learning, and then serving.

Whether you’re a solo volunteer, leading a church or community organization, or anything in between, we’re here to offer practical tools and listen to your stories so that we can all be Intentional Volunteers.

Links section:

References & Resources:

The Intentional Volunteer website

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

Thanks to our sponsor, Crossover Radio. You can stream Crossover Radio at crossoverradio.org, download the app in the App Store or on Google Play, or connect at facebook.com/thecrossoverradio.

Your urge to help as a volunteer is a gift! You can change the world by listening and learning first, then serving. Working together, as demonstrated by the 2018 Oklahoma Teacher Walkout, increases the effectiveness of your efforts.

The Intentional Volunteer Podcast- Episode 002

“Nobody’s ‘just’ an anything. Everybody’s important to this process.”

This statement applies not only to hosts Cari Berlin and John-Bobble Semple in their childhood fort-building escapades, but also to the exponential impact that collective volunteering and collaboration mean for a large cause. In this episode, The Intentional Volunteer Podcast discusses practical examples of how individuals and organizations lent their skills and resources to support teachers during the Oklahoma Teacher Walkout in April 2018.

Political organizer Chancen Flick joins the conversation, and Dr. Shari Zimmerman introduces the idea of allyship as a framework to truly make a difference. With the term “ally” being used more and more in mainstream discusses of making an impact, she breaks down the definition of an ally, including “[standing] up, even when you feel scared.”

Oh, and if anyone speaks Bulgarian and knows a good translation for “volunteer,” drop Cari a note. She’s been trying to figure it out for 20 years.

Mentions:

• “‘Our feet are gross’: Oklahoma teachers on gruelling 110-mile march for better funding”
• “On ninth day, what Oklahoma teacher walkout means for students”
• Connect with Chancen Flick
• Guide to Allyship
• “‘Girl Attorneys’ provide muscle in support of OK Teacher Walkout”
• TheIntentionalVolunteer.com

Thanks to our sponsor, Crossover Radio. You can stream Crossover Radio at crossoverradio.org, download the app in the App Store or on Google Play, or connect at facebook.com/thecrossoverradio.

The Intentional Volunteer believes that you can change the world, your urge to help is a gift, and the best path to real change is listening, learning, and then serving.

The Intentional Volunteer Podcast- Episode 003

Break out the cookies and milk for story time, folks. It’s time to talk about those volunteer experiences that don’t go quite as expected.

Hosts Cari Berlin and John Bobb-Semple discuss the important task of ensuring that helping doesn’t turn to harm by outlining ways to cultivate an awareness of your role in support of a cause. As John says in this episode, “When I have the opportunity to call it an issue and not my life…#privilege.”

Using the framework provided in social justice research, the story of two unexpected weeks in Belarus, and a marriage, this episode of The Intentional Volunteer Podcast reminds us all that people are not projects. The best path to real change is listening, learning, and then serving.  

Mentions:

• Guide to Allyship

• No Innocent Bystanders: Becoming an Ally in the Struggle for Justice by Shannon Craigo-Snell and Christopher Doucot

• Imago Dei
• Belarus and the Chernobyl Disaster

Thanks to our sponsor, Crossover Radio. You can stream Crossover Radio at crossoverradio.org, download the app in the App Store or on Google Play, or connect at facebook.com/thecrossoverradio.

The Intentional Volunteer believes that you can change the world, your urge to help is a gift, and the best path to real change is listening, learning, and then serving.