Reply to Did Covid disrupt the parent volunteer pipeline

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Covid exposed even more inequity but also slowed it all down and allowed people to focus inward and not on their community. I see this in the PTA. We have 40-50 parents who volunteer out of a school of 400 families and most of these parents can just put their kid into a paid activity or go to a fun paid festival on weekends instead of setting up for a festival on school grounds. Free to all students and benefitting all the families that cant volunteer or financially contribute due to multiple jobs, many kids etc. We are all burned out now but not many new families are stepping up.[/quote]

Can you really blame those people for not wanting to burn themselves out for others who can’t or won’t pitch but want to enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor? People felt taken advantage of in these largely thankless roles. [b]There wasn’t much upside for people who would like to enjoy their weekends with their families too.[/b][/quote]

Based on what I've heard/seen in multiple volunteer run organizations, the upside is when your friends volunteer with you. Then you're hanging out with your friends (and your kids are likely in a pack hanging out also with their friends) and it works. But on the flip side, you may be less likely to invite in other volunteers and people accuse your PTA/leadership team of being cliquey and not friendly so you get fewer volunteers. Catch-22.[/quote]

This is exactly what I found! Same with helping with class parties.

I largely think most PTA activities are unnecessary and don't add that much to the school experience.[/quote]

As someone in a non-PTA organization that decided a bunch of fun but not strictly necessary activities should be removed, I'm going to disagree. 4 years ago or so we took out the for-fun-but-not-required things for our families. Yeah, during Covid. Those things were deemed too much work for the reward. Funnily enough, now that those community building things are gone, people seem a lot less loyal to the organization than they used to be. While it's not the only factor, I do think all these little things that are so much of a pain but bring people onto school or together in organizations also bring in (just a few) more volunteers, make people more likely to stick with an organization, build friendships, and make people feel more welcome.

I really hate how because of Covid we made kids' live smaller and worse with fewer opportunities. I know it's a big pain - I'm a big volunteer and I've been the one having to do the grunt work. Maybe it's true that the results aren't worth it. But dang it feels sad.[/quote]

I don’t think the bolded is true. Most kids I know get tons of enrichment and opportunity and are living in big— even global big— worlds. My daughter has travelled internationally a ton, as have our close friends with kids her age, because the resources we would use for volunteering are being redirected toward our family.

I can put five hours of planning into getting her age appropriate activities in Europe this fall or I can put the same five hours into being told that the best use of my time is making sure the teachers get breakfast served to them, and gift cards, during teacher appreciation week. Which five hours provides more experience for my kid?[/quote]

This is the attitude we have everywhere. Its not just about your kid! [/quote]

First quoted PP here, and THIS! If nobody cares about the neighborhood Halloween parade (or whatever) any more, your kid is fine, but [i]some[/i] kid out there is missing out. Teacher  Appreciation Week is whatever, but it's the volunteering for the fun fairs and the neighborhood bike parades and the VBSes that someone mentioned upthread I'm talking about.

Even if your kid is now traveling to Europe instead of biking to the pool on the 4th of July, they are missing out on the chance to connect with someone in the neighborhood they might not have. The most meaningful relationships are local not global, so I'd argue they truly are missing something important there. You are welcome to disagree.[/quote]

Why is it one person’s job to enrich someone else’s kid? Where are their parents? If this is so important to them they can also find a little extra time or money to put into it instead of just taking. Everyone’s time is precious, not just the takers.[/quote]

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