Welcome to our blog, ‘More Passion Than Money: On the Trail of the Executive Director.’ I am blessed every day to see the impact that Service in Unity has on individuals and our whole community. The goal of this blog is to share those experiences and why I am so passionate about Service in Unity — even though it has not yet grown enough to compensate me financially. My intention is to keep these short, but full of impact.
This is me and the cart I pushed for three days. Service in Unity was honored to assist with this year’s Apple Harvest Festival, thanks to Nan Rohrer and the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. We were engaged as ambassadors and had the responsibility of trash and recycling removal for the event.
Service in Unity brought a team of four people each of the three days, and we employed three people each day. I worked alongside our team and walked 68,348 steps in three days — and did not learn about the importance of rain gear until far into the second day. This was a major deviation from my normal sedentary home office, where I spend a considerable amount of my time.
This was such an amazing opportunity for Service in Unity on so many fronts. First, since I acted as a volunteer and our general overhead tends to be low, this one project funded Service in Unity until the end of January! It has also led to many new connections with organizations where we can partner.
I also valued walking alongside our team with nothing to distinguish me from anyone else emptying the garbage, and seeing how people treated us. So many people were genuinely kind and grateful for our service, and I am grateful in return. It was very rewarding. There were also people who had negative comments and seemed to look down on us — which only invigorated me for our mission.
One of the most important moments was the story of a woman I have come to know, and whose father I know as well. This was her first time working with Service in Unity — one of two brand-new staff members with us those days.
I am never sure how someone will respond to the work we were hired to do. We are, after all, emptying garbage for multiple days together. I always need to ensure we are accomplishing our mission: to add value back into someone’s life, not to make anyone feel ‘less than.’
I knew we were attaining our mission within about two hours, when I first checked in with her. She had the largest smile, and she told me she felt so good to be part of helping this festival and to be working.
The next morning she told me her father was driving her to the festival and had told her how proud of her he was. You see, this was her first job after battles with recovery and other obstacles — a new first step in making her life better. Many people do not see that there comes a point in a person’s recovery, after they are stable but perhaps living in a temporary residence, when they need to choose to take the next step. I am so proud of Service in Unity — our partners, our clients, and our donors — that we were able to be there for her next step.
One last thing: on the third day, when I finally broke for lunch, I sat on the steps of the Clinton House to get out of the rain. I reflected on the previous days and watched our community engaging with each other. I experienced the purest sense of serenity and joy, as together in unity we were of service to our local community.