Guest Post by Terri Buckner
Our local high schools and the university encourage students to participate in service learning, where students receive credit for participating in civic activities. Encouraging young people to embrace volunteer activities is both good for our community and good for the individual kid.
Now is the time for the adults of this community to undertake their own volunteerism. Carrboro needs YOU! According to the Chapel Hill Herald, "the town is facing a flood of openings on its advisory boards, yet few people have applied for the positions since August, according to the town clerk. "
Working on a citizen advisory committee is both fun and rewarding, sometimes even educational. And Carrboro makes their citizen volunteers feel very appreciated. Come on out all you latent activists!
Terri Buckner, an instructional systems designer, lives and works in Orange County.
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And, to make it even easier
And, to make it even easier for you to volunteer, here's a post from January with more information about boards and links to download applications from almost every local government body.
I can't emphasize how important advisory board service has been to me. I was appointed to the Chapel Hill Transportation Board when I was in college and went on to be elected as it's chair by the age of 24! Now I serve on the Chapel Hill Planning Board and the Horace Williams Citizens' Committee.
If you ever wonder what makes me think I know everything (and I know you do), it has everything to do with participation on local advisory boards. I have learned about local issues and - very importantly - about how things really get done around here by taking my small part in the process.
Like Ruby I started out on
Like Ruby I started out on the Transporation Board (Carrboro)--way back in the 1980s. Now I serve on the Info Tech Board in Chapel Hill and as of Tuesday, the Environmental Advisory Board in Carrboro. Not only does this work help me understand what's going on the community, but it's helps me see the community in a different light. Volunteer works is satisfying in a way that salaried work isn't. I also really love meeting the other people who want to make their community a better place for everyone to live. Good people, great challenges.