The Opportunity to Make a Difference

You're never too old -- or too young -- to start. And when it comes to volunteering, starting younger can lead to community support becoming a valued part of one's life for the years to come.

There comes a time in everyone's life when they want to give back to the community. Sure, many of us may have had to volunteer as part of our high school's community service hours. Let's face it, there's a big difference between volunteering because you have to and volunteering because it's a part of who you are, who you want to be, and because you have talents, skills, and experience that you want to share to make things better.

We're lucky at Digital Echidna because we have a company and leadership that values corporate social responsibility. We support a number of causes, ranging from youth, accessibility, and culture. We love to help organizations shine but doing the quiet, background work -- and letting them focus on what they do best.

However, for a lot of people entering the workforce or still early in their careers, it can be hard to find a place to join in. Some people aren't sure what value they can add; others just don't know where to start. And that's where the United Way's GenNext initiative comes in.

On Tuesday of next week, some of Digital Echidna's GenNext team will be participating in a pop-up volunteering event at the LUSO Pop-Up Breakfast. We'll be outside Lord Elgin P.S. cooking and serving a breakfast for children and youth. And that's not all, later this month there's a GenNext Mix n' Learn focused on Digital Connection, Social Media, and Your Mental Health.

So what is GenNext and why is it important? Its mission is "to mobilize the emerging generation to make a positive impact in our community through giving, volunteering, and action."

For us, that means putting in place a structure where younger team members can take on a leadership role. It means giving younger people those opportunities to give back to the community, get involved in CSR initiatives, and build those foundations upon which future community involvement can grow.

Community service isn't about old or young, but it is about letting people share their skills, talents, time, and effort as part of something bigger. And the benefit for companies is simple -- by empowering youth to make a difference, you strengthen your team as a whole.

A few years ago, Jay wrote a blog post about what is the best "team." In it he talks about the value of having varying degrees of experience. And it's true -- having diversity within a team structure allows you to combine enthusiasm, experience, different perspectives, and knowledge to create a stronger whole. But you need more than that.

You need opportunity. You need to give people a forum where they can learn, grow, gain confidence and experience, and where they can make a difference. With GenNext, participants see a positive change with each smiling face, with every action taken, and with every step forward.

For many, it may only be their first few steps. But thanks to projects like GenNext, those first steps will be on a path towards a much brighter future for us all.