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> My local subreddit is FULL of people wondering [...] Some even ask how to help. No new volunteers show up, though. Oh, yes. I'm in a local volunteer group

> My local subreddit is FULL of people wondering [...] Some even ask how to help. No new volunteers show up, though. Oh, yes. I'm in a local volunteer group here. We have just under 1,800 "members" on Meetup - supposedly interested in regularly doing Good Deeds with us. But there are less than 18 members who ever show up and do things. Evidently the other ~1,782 had Good Intentions...that mysteriously vanished when they clicked "Join". Or only care about polishing their online images. Or something. A great many things were different back in the early '90's. One of which was that branding yourself as a volunteer do-gooder required you to actually show up and do some work. Somehow, our group had far more actual workers back then.

steve_adams_86 2y ago
Oh, nice. You’ve been at it for a while now. I’d love to have some of the insights you have. Though, I guess they don’t help you grow the group much if you’re only 18. Yet, I have no idea how we’d get to 18. The most successful group around here has about that many volunteers (I’m one of them), but they’re focused on a huge range of land trusts outside of the city. Given the city is small, it still seems insane that so few people want to contribute. My kids have no interest. Friends have no interest. But it’s literally the only way things get better… For example. A creek nearby smells awful and is full of drug paraphernalia and garbage. The city has expressed with clarity that they aren’t touching it. The only solution is people like you and I taking a Saturday to clean it. Yet we’re not actually allowed to unless the city approves it (more specifically the Parks branch), which requires meeting their criteria such as number of people involved, short enough time frames, available expertise, etc. Sometimes I think I might just go guerilla and pull a bunch of crap out on my own, take it to the dump on my own, whatever. Okay, I got that out of my system. If you have any advice on making groups like this more effective, I’m all ears. Bringing coffee and muffins to the work events certainly helps.
- sriacha 2y ago
  Really seems like the best route is to go guerilla, no?
  - steve_adams_86 2y ago
    I guess so. The dump fee would likely be several hundred dollars, but there’s a real psychological cost to sitting around and letting it fester too. I go by this place almost every single day of my life.

steve_adams_86 2y ago

Oh, nice. You’ve been at it for a while now. I’d love to have some of the insights you have. Though, I guess they don’t help you grow the group much if you’re only 18. Yet, I have no idea how we’d get to 18. The most successful group around here has about that many volunteers (I’m one of them), but they’re focused on a huge range of land trusts outside of the city. Given the city is small, it still seems insane that so few people want to contribute. My kids have no interest. Friends have no interest. But it’s literally the only way things get better… For example. A creek nearby smells awful and is full of drug paraphernalia and garbage. The city has expressed with clarity that they aren’t touching it. The only solution is people like you and I taking a Saturday to clean it. Yet we’re not actually allowed to unless the city approves it (more specifically the Parks branch), which requires meeting their criteria such as number of people involved, short enough time frames, available expertise, etc. Sometimes I think I might just go guerilla and pull a bunch of crap out on my own, take it to the dump on my own, whatever. Okay, I got that out of my system. If you have any advice on making groups like this more effective, I’m all ears. Bringing coffee and muffins to the work events certainly helps.

sriacha 2y ago
Really seems like the best route is to go guerilla, no?
- steve_adams_86 2y ago
  I guess so. The dump fee would likely be several hundred dollars, but there’s a real psychological cost to sitting around and letting it fester too. I go by this place almost every single day of my life.