Volunteers Feel Left Out...   Anon

During COVID US Servas fell into dire straits. We didn’t know if we would survive, but a lot of us heard the call, rolled up our sleeves, and took it on. Of course, as with any volunteer situation, some contribute more than others, but still— Servas is an organization about people.   

Several years and many changes later,a number of our committed volunteers feel left out. Things have changed so much. We've become computerized and so organized that the people part of the volunteering, the people part of being a Servas member has taken a back seat to the systems and organization.  

A former local interviewer reached out to a former regional coordinator to ask when she might be trained to start interviewing again. Since she doesn’t have a US Servas address, she had not received the invitation email for the training. An advantage of having regional coordinators who interview is that they get to know many of the people in their area and can create events that bring their regions together.  

Another local member reached out to ask when our next area event would be. The former regional coordinator could not say because anybody can schedule and announce an event once approved through the events team, but few who weren’t regional coordinators want to go through the hoops. It somehow feels, in spite of all the positive changes, that some babies have been thrown out with the bath water. Let’s step back and re-evaluate. 

Editor's Note - The board recognizes this as an important issue. In the years since COVID the focus has been to understand our new computer systems and survive as an all-volunteer organization. Now is the time to focus on our core... people connections. We hope to see meaningful progress this year.