It's not all about me?

WIIFM is the station we find many people tuned into today.  For those of us who work with young people it can sometimes feel like a losing battle to get them to listen to anything else. WIIFM-What's In It For Me; 24/7 self-absorption.  

At Regis, part of the university wide mission is to look out beyond ourselves and find ways to enrich and embrace our community.  All students do a mandated number of service hours and our athletes go well above and beyond what is required.

The Race for Cure is an event our team has volunteered at for many years.  They love to be involved and remind the staff to sign us up every fall.  

So, here is what's in it for them -They leave campus at 5 am to head downtown; wait in the pre-dawn cold to get their assignment and head to their station.  Some of the glamorous tasks have included directing traffic where to park and picking up trash behind the participants. They love handing out water along the raceway and being greeters at the finish line.  After 5-6 hours they head home for a nap and then back to their homework.  

Every year our team relates how moving and impact-full the event is; watching others who have overcome a great challenge reminds them to be grateful for all they have.  This is a team-only activity.  Coaches do not go with them or plan it for them.

Here is an excerpt of an email we received last week from one of the supervising volunteers about our team.

Well, your group of women came to check in and all went fine until no one showed up to take them to their location. ...probably after 30 minutes one of your players came over to say that no one came to meet them.  Finally I asked if I could find the location of where they were going would they be willing to walk.   NO ONE GRUMBLED…no one complained…they just said YES. Had I been in their shoes I might have said “forget this I am out of here”.  Their attitude was greatly appreciated as well as their volunteering! 

I just wanted to pass along how much it was appreciated that they helped out and more important didn’t let the snafu on our part cause them to give up.

I'm very proud to be a part of a university that really does walk-the-walk and lives its mission. And of course I am even more proud of the heart of our team and the way they represent themselves and our program.  

Way to go ladies!