National Volunteer Week is April 21-27

Guest blog post by Diana Sirovina, 2023-2024 ALA Community Service Committee national chair 
 
National Volunteer Week has been celebrated every April since 1974. It provides an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of the numerous volunteers who lend their time, talent, and resources to make a difference in the lives of so many people. It also provides a means to express sincere appreciation for their efforts. 

Volunteers are the heart of any nonprofit organization. The American Legion Auxiliary is the finest example of that — we are a community of volunteers serving veterans, military, and their families! 

Each year, our members spend thousands of hours volunteering their time for our veterans, military, their families, and our communities. Where our members volunteer and the numerous acts of kindness they provide are as diverse as our membership itself. We make a difference in so many lives each and every day! 

While we always appreciate our volunteers, somehow just saying “thank you” could never be enough. This is why National Volunteer Week is a perfect opportunity to give them the recognition they so richly deserve. As an internationally recognized observance, National Volunteer Week helps us to highlight the importance of every volunteer.

National Volunteer Week encourages us to recognize our amazing volunteers at events in our communities. We can host events in our American Legion post homes, as well as in community centers, or even the local park. They can be anything from small impromptu get-togethers and coffee hours to planned luncheons or dinners. Guests could even include local dignitaries, school or hospital administrators, or clergy members. The event will honor your volunteers and show the community how we are dedicated to serve others.

Many of us have social media accounts, both for our organization and for our own personal pages. We can create appropriate posts on Facebook, Instagram, X, etc., to highlight National Volunteer Week, and recognize our members for the dedication to volunteering they do for our veterans and those in need.

We can also recognize our amazing volunteers with small gifts, gift cards, or flowers. The possibilities are endless. So many of our members are very talented crafters. We might ask them to create something special. Gifts do not have to be large or costly, just tokens of the sincere appreciation we have for these tireless workers. Maybe there is an artist in our midst who would like to design a special thank-you note to send to our volunteers.

Volunteers do what they do because of their commitment to service and compassion for others. The hours they spend in service to others are countless. The value of their time is priceless. Perhaps the most important thing we can ever do is simply say “thank you.”