To be a volunteer can be a very rewarding and fulfilling experience. Once we commit to an organization to becoming a member, not only are we able to meet people with similar or parallel interests but we can contribute to the mission and goals of the organization we have chosen to support.
I am sure that those of you who recently joined the Auxiliary and those who have been members for some time will recall the prologue to the pledge you took: “You accept this membership as a volunteer, and as a member you are charged with certain responsibilities and obligations. These include your willingness to support the Coast Guard Auxiliary and its purposes, to faithfully execute your duties, and to participate in its authorized programs to the best of your ability and to the extent that time and circumstances permit. … The satisfaction you derive from your Auxiliary membership will be in proportion to your level of participation in the organization’s activities.”
Many members contribute their time over a broad range of our missions and some contribute so many hours we can only marvel at them. Any organization that has some members who consistently contribute more than fifty hours per month is blessed. What an improvement we would see if every member could contribute just ten hours a week. Many of us have skill sets and qualifications that would enable us to grow our contribution and thereby increase the satisfaction we derive from the Auxiliary.
