Volunteers are the new city employees

Ask not what your city can do for you; ask what you can do for your city. Chances are your city no longer has the budget to take on certain tasks.

The  USA Today reports that Philadelphians are stepping up as “graduation coaches,” in Nashville citizens are cleaning waterways; in New York volunteers are painting roofs. These are all jobs that city employees would have done.

Twenty-two cities have created positions to recruit and manage volunteers. Has yours?

Asking for help isn’t easy

You couldn’t pay me enough to be in local government right now (or probably ever). Budgets are uber-tight and you’re in trouble if you spend money on something and you’re in trouble if you don’t spend money on something. So, you’d probably be in trouble if you admitted, “Hey, we can’t handle this on our own, help!” But there’s no doubt that people will help.

I would love to see the City of Muncie ask for help. On their website there is a place to complain, but there isn’t a place to Volunteer.

What if we all stopped bitching and actually did something?

Check out your cities homepage and see if there are any volunteer opportunities. If not, here’s a list of tools to help you find volunteer opportunities near and far.

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Now excuse me while I tweet my Mayor: @MayorMcShurley How can I help? I just read this article and want to know how I can help Muncie.