[This presentation was given as part of a Storytelling class for my finals class in the UW MCDM graduate program.]

Selfish Giving by Nora Robertson

If someone you knew volunteered to help care for abandoned pets, donated their expertise for Seattle Children’s Hospital, and traveled to New Orleans to volunteer after Katrina, how would you describe them?

Well, I've had the opportunity to do all those things, but it might not be for the reasons you'd think.

Those that know me and my background might think it’s because it’s a part of how I was raised.

This is my mom, Tani. She’s a quadriplegic, which basically means that due to paralysis she doesn’t have full use of her arms and legs. She has been in a wheelchair since I was 4 and I grew up helping her try to live a normal life. Helping her with physical therapy or pushing her wheelchair through the grocery store was just a normal day to me.
But that’s not why I volunteered either.

I volunteered because I am selfish.

That’s right, [PAUSE] all of my volunteer experiences have been motivated by my own selfish ambitions. There was something I wanted, and volunteering was a way to help make it happen.
In college I missed my pets back home, but couldn’t have animals in the dorms. So I volunteered at an animal shelter. There were plenty of kittens and puppies to snuggle.
Then I moved to Seattle and wanted to meet more people and make friends. I signed up for a program with an organization that created groups of volunteers to donate time to a different non-profit every month and meet up at a local bar after. I made lasting friendships that I still have to this day.
I even went to New Orleans because I wanted a cheap vacation.
But what I didn’t know when I started, is that even though I accomplished my initial selfish agenda in each of these volunteer experiences, [pause] what I got, [pause] and what I ultimately gave, was so much more powerful. [PAUSE]
It was two years after Katrina when I first saw an e-mail about a “volunteer trip” to New Orleans. I’d been to “The Big Easy” before, but I was 16 and spent most of my time pushing my mom’s wheelchair on cobblestone streets. I’d always wanted to go back and let the good times roll, but I was a recent college grad and didn’t have a lot of money.
When e-mails from Seattle Works started recruiting for a volunteer trip advertising most meals and all housing costs would be covered for a very low fee, I signed up. I was a while after the initial flooding and I didn’t have any particularly special or relevant skills, so I just signed up to go along for the ride.
That ride, [pause] and the people I met along the way, [pause] changed my life. [PAUSE]

This is one of those people I met on that journey. He was a 12 year old boy who we’ll call Tommy. Tommy lived and went to school in the lower 9th ward. My team of volunteers was at his school for 3 days. Our mission was simply to try to make the temporary trailers, gravel yard, and chain link fences feel more like a school than a prison. We painted murals and hopscotch on the sidewalks. We built picnic tables and planters for trees and flowers. Our mission was to replace the gray with color. And Tommy wanted to help.
Now, Tommy was what you might call… fabulous. Even at just 12 years old he had started to figure out who he was. He was flamboyant and colorful and [pause] different. He was excused from class because he was different. Tommy was only 12 years old, but he was already dealing with rejection from his peers, and even his teachers, because of something he couldn’t change. Tommy was gay, living in the 9th ward of New Orleans, and dealing with prejudice on a daily basis.
Tommy and I made a special bond over those days. We developed inside jokes. We got paint on each other. Our group gave him acceptance and a chance to escape from some of his daily challenges while helping to improve his own surroundings.
I only knew him for two days, but I’ll never forget his charm and character. Oh, and his smile that could light up a room. I like to think I affected his life, but I know meeting him changed mine.
I’ve accomplished a lot of my selfish ambitions through my volunteer work. It even helped me gain experience that resulted in a job managing social media for Amazon.com.
But my selfish giving has also resulted in experiences I never would have found if I’d been looking for them. Each time I volunteer, I go from being an outsider or tourist to being part of a community.
There’s a quote by cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead that reminds me why community so important.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

It’s not about how much, or even what motivates you, but that you do something at all. You can start small.

You can make a difference in someone’s life, even if you’re doing it for your own selfish reasons. Selfish giving is still giving.

My challenge to you today is to make a list.
Make a list of 5 things that you want more of in your life. Look at that list, and find one of them that you can work toward by volunteering.
Do you want more time to spend outside? Ask your work about getting volunteer paid time off to do trail work with the Washington Trail Association.
[Pause]
Do you want to get a job involving social media? Find a non-profit where you can volunteer to develop and execute a social strategy to build up your skills and resume experience.
[Pause]
Do you want to spend more time with your kids? Volunteer to go on a field trip with your child’s school.
I started volunteering regularly because I wanted to make more friends.
Now?

I want to see baby elephants so I’m going to Thailand on Monday and volunteering at the Save the Elephants Foundation.

Go find YOUR baby elephants.

Thank you.