GEEKNOTE: Volunteering

GEEKNOTE:  As West Pasco's largest annual volunteer event comes to a close, it is worth taking a look at what it means to volunteer.  The Chasco Fiesta may be the largest volunteer run event in the area, but it is by no means the only one.  Pick a cause and you can find an organization that addresses it:  Sertoma (speech and hearing), the Lion's (vision), Rotary (eliminating polio worldwide), the Boy Scouts (building tomorrow's leaders).  The list goes on.

I've volunteered with a number of groups over the years, but have limited myself primarily to scouting (serving as a unit commissioner), Greater New Port Richey Main Street (race director for the Coteeman Triathlon), the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce (serving on the Business Development Week committee), the Suncoast Health Council (board member), and First United Methodist (running the sound board during the Sunday services). 

This year, I decided to give back to Chasco and volunteered to help out at the information kiosk.  I picked the kiosk because I figured it was far enough away from the music that I could enjoy it without it being too loud.  It was a great pick.

In a background role, my company picked up the web hosting for Chasco last fall when their web host closed down.  I checked their bandwidth use each day during the run up to the event and during the event to make sure that they didn't have any issues.

You don't have to do a LOT for any worthy group.  Pick a cause and a group and help out as much as you can.  I can guarantee you that they will appreciate your assistance.  If you are in the city, you might check with city hall and see what volunteer boards have openings. 

Each of us has a responsibility to give back to our community.  How you go about doing it us up to you.

Rob Marlowe, Senior Geek
Gulfcoast Networking
http://www.gulfcoastnetworking.com