United We Share

Yesterday,  I was up in Pittsburgh for Regional Training.  I drove up the 4 1/2 hour drive Friday night with fellow volunteers and friends Brandon and Elaine in tow, only to know we'd be making the twisting drive back through the Appalachians the next evening.  Such is the sacrifice of the committed volunteer.

As a bit of background, our region of the country is considered "Region B."  B is one of four making up appropriately H, O, B, and Y.  B covers MD, DC, DE, PA, OH, IL, IN, and WV.  So, yes, while Pittsburgh is a bit of a schlep, it was somewhat central for the entire region.  It also happens to be in my supervisor, Vicki's backyard.  Hey -- she made the drive for my meeting with the Mount for me, and that worked out pretty well.

Regional training also serves as a scaled down version of the national Training Institute.   Topics are relevant to volunteer needs and customized to be the most applicable.  It's volunteers teaching other volunteers, and ultimately, often a lot of what becomes "best practices" sharing.  Vicki actually asked me to teach a few sessions as part of my attendance:  technology and budgeting.  No sweat.  I was happy to do it.  We covered those along with topics of operations, recruitment, the always obligatory risk management, and new programmatic changes for the year.

If you had asked me last week about the training and preparing for it, I'm not exactly sure what I would have told you:  that I wasn't exactly excited for driving all the way to Pittsburgh; that I had been to too many past trainings and I'm not sure I'd be learning anything at this one; that I was frustrated that more of my own volunteers couldn't attend or make the commitment.   Any and all of these would have been possibilities.

However, when all was said and done, I'm glad I went -- and not just because of my love of HOBY.  For one, the training, while I won't claim it taught me tons of new things, reminded me of some things that I should be doing, or could easily neglect.  Second, the enthusiasm of the volunteers of my region helped inspire me that there are a lot of people who are still putting in lots of good work.  And third, I even got a few solid leads for my work on the Strategic Planning Committee, and that was a very good thing.

But, you want to know what my favorite part was?

After the meeting, many of us went to dinner at a place one of the locals suggested:  a brewery that had been set up in an old catholic church building.  As we sat at dinner, we discussed the restaurant and the structure:  was it offensive?  sacrilegious?  simply humorous?  As someone Jewish, I was particularly interested in the thoughts of my colleagues who came from various Christian denominations.  We discussed for some time our thoughts.   We exchanged HOBY stories, both good and the kind you can only laugh at afterwards.  And, in the kinds of discussions you can only have with people you trust, talked about the good and bad, our thoughts of growth and yet cautiousness, between people and fellow volunteers who simply want what is best for our organization and its continued success.

My favorite part was the camaraderie.

Beyond leadership, beyond volunteerism, beyond service, HOBY is about friendship.  The kind of friendships where you meet someone for perhaps only a few days and yet you feel you've known these people your whole life.  That it does not matter how different your backgrounds are, you are likeminded individuals and you share a bond that anyone would consider themselves lucky to find.

In that vein, I'd like to throw one more shout out to my good HOBY friend and fellow volunteer Nick who now finds himself working hard to help rebuild New Orleans with the St. Bernard Project.  He's begun blogging his adventure and I look forward to following along with him from afar.  You too can follow him at http://nickinneworleans.blogspot.com/.   All of us in MD wish you only the best Nick.  And, by all means, be sure to wear a HOBY t-shirt along the way.  :)