Jenna Morton on the Joys of Volunteering

Jenna Morton, volunteerism champion

	Morton (TOP RIGHT) and her siblings, on a philanthropic sojourn in Jordan
	Morton was back in Jordan with her own children earlier this year

I’ve got a great idea: Let’s all give ourselves a raise! Wouldn’t it be great if it were that easy? How about we add benefits, too? It may sound like a silly idea, but we actually can, as a community, give ourselves a collective raise.

It’s the time of year when we reflect on what we are grateful for. Volunteering allows us to show that gratitude in a way that accrues straight to the collective bottom line, with the added benefit of intensely rich personal fulfillment.

I remember when I was seven years old tagging along with my parents when they worked with refugees in Jordan. They were building a school playground and had each of the students gather small rocks to create a foundation. I filled my pockets, too. The day we eventually saw the finished product I felt so proud that I had contributed to it, as did all of the hundreds of other children who finally had a place to play soccer. I have never forgotten that day’s shouts of joy, which still lift me to this day. Stories like that unfold every day here in Las Vegas, where volunteers lift our community in deeply meaningful ways.

One of these inspirational figures is Linda Gagnon, who was a teacher for 30 years. She visited the Springs Preserve one day to see the trees and desert plants. She fell in love, she says, and never left: “It’s almost a calling to volunteer here,” she says. She now leads field trips teaching children all about Las Vegas’s climate, wildlife, and conservation. People like Gagnon contributed nearly 23,000 volunteer hours at the Springs Preserve in 2010. That is an incredible gift, but Gagnon would tell you that she definitely gets more than she gives.

There’s also Maggie Mora, a Books and Buddies mentor with Spread the Word, Nevada, an organization that gives books to kids who don’t have any. Mora made a 12-week commitment to read for one hour each week with fifth-grader Susan, who was already showing all the risk factors for dropping out. “Susan touched my life in ways I never expected,” she says. “I didn’t know how powerful it would feel until I did it.” And Mora’s power is only multiplied by the 120 other Spread the Word mentors who give added support to the 203,000 children who have received the 1.8 million books that Spread the Word has given so far.

There are hundreds of other stories like these and thousands of opportunities for each of us to create more. Whether it is an hour a week filling backpacks with food or an occasional visit to the shelter to scratch a puppy’s ears, it is through volunteer work that we make Las Vegas rich. For a great list of volunteer opportunities, visit the knpr.org Community Connections page or volunteermatch.org. There’s a lot to do!