Need more to get your activist juices flowing? Here are a few additional ways to be a catalyst for change in society:
• Volunteer for the arts. The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center allows volunteers to cultivate their personal interests through a youth program called “Junior Ambassadors.” The program weds personal growth with development workshops while students serve as ushers at shows, interact with patrons or just provide general information. “The human spirit of giving would be lost if volunteering didn’t exist,” says Jennifer Rubin, volunteer services manager. “It’s a social responsibility and we all benefit. To give back by working with children or working with arts patrons is amazing. If all of that disappeared, I couldn’t imagine where we’d be.”
• Become a tutor. Hands on Charlotte is an organization dedicated to inserting itself into the struggles of the community. Homelessness, poverty and lack of understanding for people who are different are issues the group confronts through a number of activities. Volunteers tutor kids at under-performing schools and help adults who are trying to achieve literacy or a basic GED. “Tutoring at an [under-performing] school or teaching is one of the most long-reaching things you can do,” says Executive Director for Hands on Charlotte Bob Young. “It has the potential to ripple out from that individual to others as well. You can vote with your ballot but you can also vote with your tongue, heart and voice.”
• Save a life. The Greater Carolina’s Red Cross is always available to offer disaster preparedness. “If you’re in a disaster, you must know you’re not alone because a volunteer is always there,” says Elaine Spallone, marketing and communications manager for Greater Carolina’s Red Cross. “A person’s life changes just knowing that they’re not alone. When we prepare them, people feel more secure. We hear of cases all of the time where the provided CPR has actually saved someone’s life.”
• Inherit the spirit of activism. Activism is visible through larger-scale demonstrations (such as anti-war protests) or smaller-scale demonstrations. The Coalition for Peace and Justice is out there “stirring the pot” on society’s silent-but-threatening issues. As founding member for the Coalition for Peace and Justice Jibril Hough says, “Things you can do [to make a change] are put pressure on your local representative, build coalitions between different activist groups and different religious groups to spread awareness. Sometimes, the role of an activist is to stir the pot, call on leaders, care when it seems no one else cares and be the voice of the voiceless, the silent majority.”
This article appears in Aug 8-14, 2007.
