The Life-Affirming Power of Volunteering

Volunteerism is on the decline nationwide. But within our local community is a world of good.

On a recent morning, the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) just off South Four Mile Run Drive felt like a Richard Scarry children’s book sprung to life. Everything was in motion. In one area, volunteers subdivided bulk shipments of rice and potatoes into smaller portions. Some made stacks of canned goods that were five feet tall. In the distribution room, others formed an assembly line handing out food—produce, meat, bread and cake—to a steady stream of walk-in clients. Outside, AFAC’s bright yellow van sat awaiting its next mission while another volunteer loaded up his car to deliver food to people who are homebound. 

When it comes to recruiting volunteers, it helps that AFAC is a household name. “Almost everybody in Arlington has heard of us,” says Danielle Rampton, director of volunteer services for the nonprofit. “So, in that sense, it’s been easy. We have a pretty easy system to access. You can come in, create an application on a Monday, get a link to our calendar on Wednesday and start volunteering on Thursday.”

It also helps that AFAC’s army of volunteers includes a host of regulars, some of whom have been giving their time for well over a decade. “Our home delivery clients and volunteers are paired up, so they form a relationship,” Rampton says. “For some, our volunteer might be the only person they see all week. And it might be their only access to food.” 

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Volunteers bag onions at the Arlington Food Assistance Center. (Photo Courtesy of AFAC)

The wellspring of free labor that keeps AFAC humming isn’t an anomaly in the place we call home. Do-gooders give their time in support of a wide range of issues, from food insecurity, homelessness and affordable housing to refugee assistance and disease research. Volunteers serve on PTA boards and faith-based or civic committees. They coach youth sports, organize coat drives, participate in environmental cleanup events and help their neighbors with lawn mowing and snow shoveling. They contribute to grassroots GoFundMe campaigns—like the one that raised nearly $250,000 to support a Bluemont family who lost their duplex in a house explosion last December. 

On the massive Arlington Neighbors Helping Each Other Facebook group—now more than 31,000 members strong—a legion of kind people, most of whom are strangers to each other, responds to every request for assistance and advice imaginable. 

But the picture isn’t entirely rosy. Research points to a nationwide decline in volunteerism and civic engagement, and the pandemic took a toll here, just as it did elsewhere. AFAC lost three quarters of its regular volunteers in March 2020, Rampton says. The staff worked overtime to cover the shortfall.  

Although organized helping has bounced back since then, it hasn’t been universal or always predictable. The needs are still great. 

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Food distribution at AFAC (Courtesy photo)

With the arrival of the Digital Age, the mechanisms for volunteering have changed. Throughout the last century, people often gave back to their communities through service clubs and fraternal organizations. Think Rotary Club, Kiwanis, Optimists, Lions, the local Elks lodge or the Knights of Columbus—groups your grandfather might have belonged to. Traditionally, these groups charged a membership fee and hosted weekly or monthly club meetings or guest speakers. Many such clubs originally limited their memberships to White men, although those segregated policies have long been overturned. 

The service clubs that began in the 20th century centered on “hyperlocal” activism well before that was a popular term, providing a way for people to participate in civic life. Rotary Club International’s chief motto, for example, is “Service Above Self”; the Kiwanis motto, “Serving the Children of the World,” is realized via local channels.  

In Arlington, chapters of these clubs took shape and grew alongside a rapidly suburbanizing county. The Arlington Knights of Columbus chapter, for one, traces its origins to 1923, just three years after the county changed its name from Alexandria to Arlington. Arlington’s Rotary chapter dates to 1929, and the Arlington Kiwanis Club dates to 1931. 

The Falls Church Rotary has been around since 1952, and the New Dominion Women’s Club, a service organization in McLean, began in 1968. All these chapters and clubs are still active today, but the environment in which they operate has changed dramatically. 

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Arlington is still home to a number of formal service clubs. (Courtesy photo)

By the end of the 20th century, traditional service clubs were swept up in a wave of social change that saw widespread declines in what many viewed as bedrock channels of civic engagement—local politics, faith-based programs, community groups and the like. 

In his landmark 2000 book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, social scientist Robert D. Putnam wrote that membership in traditional service clubs had fallen by 58% in the previous 25 years. He pinned the decline on several factors, including women entering the workforce in greater numbers and increasingly individualized entertainment and technology—trends that have only intensified in the quarter century since the book was published. 

Putnam is one of several prominent voices in Join or Die, a 2023 documentary created by Falls Church filmmaker Peter Davis and his sister, Rebecca Davis, that argues that joining community clubs is essential to reversing the tide. 

“You should join, your kids should join and, if there’s not an organization you want to join, create one,” Hillary Clinton says in the film, which also features commentary from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Princeton religious studies professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr., among others. The documentary makes the case that nothing less than the fate of America is depending on it. 

“Where we are struggling is with young professionals,” laments one Arlington service club member, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “We are having to compete for their time. They are starting to have families and are struggling to survive, and some are just working like dogs. It’s really challenging to get these people to help. If the clubs haven’t switched their model, if it’s still ‘pay your dues, come for lunch, and sit and listen to a speaker,’ you’re never going to get these folks.” 

Mariflor Ventura, founder of Casa Mariflor in Arlington, VA
During the pandemic, Mariflor Ventura began collecting food, diaper and baby formula donations to help families in Arlington’s Buckingham neighborhood. Her effort became a nonprofit. Read more about Casa Mariflor here.  (Photo by Sarah Goldman)

Volunteerism today is often framed into two categories—before the pandemic and after the pandemic. Even before Covid, volunteerism was waning nationwide. The pace accelerated when fears about the coronavirus sent those who could afford it into the protective cocoons of their homes.

According to a study released by the U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps in January 2023, more than half of Americans aged 16 and over (51%) help their neighbors informally, while just under a quarter (23%) volunteer formally with an organization. 

Volunteerism across the U.S. declined by 7 percentage points between 2019 and 2021, the report found, with formal volunteerism hitting its lowest point in 20 years. But the outlook wasn’t quite so bleak for the greater Washington, D.C., region, which ranked fifth among the top 10 states (or state equivalents) for formal volunteering, and sixth in a ranking of the top metro areas for informal volunteering. 

In 2014 (the most recent year for which data is available) the Arlington Chamber of Commerce estimated that 32% of Arlington residents volunteered through formal channels—beating national trends by nearly 10 percentage points. A 2019 survey of Fairfax County and City of Falls Church residents ages 50 and older found an average of 28% making time for regular, weekly volunteer work. 

Santa Project 2
Arlington “Kindness activist” Susan Thompson-Gaines organizes an annual Santa Project, maintains a little free food pantry in front of her house, and has a website devoted to celebrating acts of kindness. Read more about her efforts here. (Photo by David Gaines)

Fast-forward to 2024 and Lisa Fikes contends that local volunteerism is alive and well. She should know. As president and CEO of the Leadership Center of Arlington, Fikes oversees Volunteer Arlington, a public-private partnership between the Leadership Center and the county. Volunteer Arlington connects individuals, nonprofit groups, businesses and government to promote hands-on giving in a variety of ways. 

If volunteerism is eroding across the country, Fikes isn’t seeing it here. Activity is robust on the Volunteer Arlington website, she says, which posts specific giving opportunities, as well as events such as the organization’s periodic Causes & Cocktails gatherings and Arlington’s annual observance of the MLK National Day of Service. The latter drew about 2,000 people earlier this year to help with various community projects. A soon-to-debut Volunteer Arlington app will make these connections even easier. 

“We’ve got well over 20,000 users [interested volunteers] in the system and more than 400 partners,” Fikes says. “When we say partners, we mean nonprofit or county organizations that are looking for volunteers. We offer Causes & Cocktails three times a year, where we bring in our partners and attendees get a short overview. It’s an organic space for people to connect while they’re having a cocktail. On average we have 75 to 100 people signing up to come for that. With the Day of Service, our hope is that, if somebody’s never volunteered, we move their needle to coming for that one day. And if people are interested and maybe volunteered on that day, it might turn into long-term service.” 

Volunteer Arlington’s 2024 MLK Day of Service engaged some 2,000 volunteers in projects countywide. (Photo courtesy of Volunteer Arlington)

Volunteer Arlington collaborates with Volunteer Alexandria and Volunteer Fairfax, sharing best practices and making connections, adds Elise Neil Bengtson, a former CEO of Volunteer Fairfax who now serves as executive director of the City of Falls Church Chamber of Commerce (she’s also a regular volunteer with the Baileys Crossroads Rotary Club and the Virginia Chamber Orchestra). “Volunteerism builds community,” Bengtson says. “When you have a strong community, you’re in a more solid position to support other communities.”

This summer, Volunteer Arlington gave its 2024 Lifetime of Service Award to local resident Sue MacLane, recognizing her work with the Arlington Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Among other things, Arlington CERT helps stage mock disasters—such as plane crashes or active shooter scenarios—to provide training for first responders. “We lost a number of volunteers during Covid,” MacLane says. “There’s still a good fraction of people who are staying disconnected from things. But I think it’s coming back.” 

Recruiting volunteers can be especially tough when you factor in people who are juggling demanding jobs, busy kid schedules, health concerns and aging parents. Fikes says the solution lies in new ways of thinking about philanthropy. 

Portia Clark - Arlington, VA
For decades, Green Valley resident Portia Clark has volunteered her time as an advocate for local youth and seniors. Read more about her here. (Photo courtesy of Shari Morris)

Like many nonprofits, the Arlington homeless services organization PathForward (previously known as A-SPAN), lost volunteers during the pandemic. “We have medically vulnerable individuals that we work with,” says Liz Nohra, PathForward’s vice president of philanthropy. “People used to volunteer all the time. Since Covid, they don’t volunteer as much. We lost some volunteers to other organizations who could keep their doors open [during the pandemic] when we couldn’t.” 

PathForward is now rebuilding its network, offering multiple pathways to those who want to donate their time—from serving meals in the shelter or organizing a clothing closet to sharing their professional expertise. “That could be teaching a computer class or basic financial literacy or yoga or meditation,” Nohra explains.

The nonprofit also engages corporate teams and local service clubs in organized acts of service. This summer, Arlington Kiwanis club members gathered to make 100 bagged lunch sandwiches for neighbors who are unhoused.

A coat drive organized by VHC Health on behalf of PathForward (Photo courtesy of PathForward)

Fikes of Volunteer Arlington says offering plenty of choices—including options for people who can only work virtually or show up occasionally—fits with a philosophy called the Civic Circle. Developed by the Points of Light organization, the Civic Circle concept embraces multiple modes of giving, from donating and volunteering to listening or speaking. The idea, Fikes says, is that, yes, volunteering doesn’t look like it used to. But it doesn’t need to. 

“You have to meet [people] where they are,” concurs Jennifer Owens, president and CEO of the Arlington Community Foundation (ACF), which connects county residents with nonprofits to foster philanthropy and volunteerism, and honors outstanding volunteers through its annual Spirit of Community Awards. “We try to discourage the kind of volunteering that’s just ‘Let’s paint a fence one more time.’ That leads to dissatisfaction,” Owens says. People who donate their time want to know that they made a difference. 

Like many charitable groups, ACF is exploring various ways to cast a wider net. Soon it will publish a directory of Arlington nonprofits to complement Volunteer Arlington’s work. And the foundation recently changed the mechanics of its well-known scholarship program that provides college tuition assistance to graduating high school seniors. In the past, volunteers reviewing scholarship applications were required to sit in a high school gym at an appointed time reading printed copies. Now they can do the work online.

“The [former approach] was great for older, retired people who didn’t also have to be at the soccer field at that time, or it wasn’t their one day to get groceries,” Owens says. “Now you get assigned a link and you have two or three weeks to review [the applications], so you can do it after the kids are in bed. Those scores are really meaningful [in determining] who is going to receive those dollars. Now we have a greater diversity of people to help make those decisions.”

In June, the civic club known for 70 years as the Arlington Committee of 100 rebranded and changed its name to Advance Arlington. Board chair Jeanne Broyhill says Advance Arlington will continue its mission of hosting nonpartisan discussions on a range of community issues—the focus being on bridging ideological divides to prevent polarization. But it plans to be even more intentional and inclusive in its choices of topics and participant outreach going forward.

“I’m optimistic that we’ll continue to be successful in providing a forum for the type of open conversation that so many issues today require,” Broyhill says. “We will continue to evolve.”

Arlington Rotary is adapting to the times as well. “As with most organizations, our club has endeavored to increase diversity in membership and adapt to the post-Covid era’s demand for flexibility,” says club president Sherri Barrier Oliver.

Rotary used to host four in-person lunch meetings per month. Now its monthly schedule includes one in-person meeting, one virtual meeting and typically one or more service projects, some of which are combined with a happy hour. “If members can see the difference their volunteer hours, dues and donations make in the community and form friendships and have fun in the process,” Oliver says, “we think our club will be around for another 100 years.”

Jim Dooley, a retired climate scientist, volunteers with the Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative and the Arlington CERT program. Photo by J. Michael Whalen

On an early September evening, as the sun was setting, a group of people gathered for a candlelight vigil at Courthouse Plaza to reflect on the ravages of opioid addiction. Against a backdrop of cutout hearts featuring the names of lives lost, listeners clustered around four speakers who shared their own stories of opioid recovery. 

At a small table off to one side, Jim Dooley, 58, stood prepared to teach anyone who was interested in how to administer Narcan, the opioid reversal medicine that has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. 

“I’ve trained 2,500 people in Arlington,” says Dooley, a retired climate scientist and longtime volunteer with the Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative and the Arlington CERT program. “What motivated me to do that was a few years ago, when I read that there were 107,000 [opioid] deaths per year. This is just my modest attempt to alleviate suffering in the world. I don’t think there should be any stigma around keeping people alive.” 

Dooley also likes to boost the signal of organizations doing good work. This past spring, he posted a note on the Arlington Neighbors Helping Each Other Facebook group to spread the word about the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program, which pairs drivers with cancer patients needing a lift to and from doctor’s appointments. 

One person who saw the post was Barcroft resident Jennifer Lis, 57, a former health care consultant. “The post said that all these rides were going unfulfilled, and it seemed pretty flexible,” Lis says. “There was an online training program, a little bit of paperwork and they did a background check, but basically after that I had access to the ride [requests]. I’ve been doing it for three months so far. I will probably do more.” 

“There’s so much we can do to support our neighbors,” Kellen MacBeth, the Facebook group’s administrator, wrote on the site in August 2022. “We’ve raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity, provided help to many who were suffering and inspired numerous spin-off groups who are doing amazing work.” 

Rebecca Carpenter is a longtime volunteer teacher with REEP, the Arlington Education and Employment Program, which has educated more than 90,000 adult English language learners from more than 110 countries since 1975 (REEP stands for the program’s former name, the Refugee Education and Employment Program). Carpenter says she has recruited other volunteer teachers by posting on the Facebook group. 

“That Arlington Neighbors group is such a gift to the community,” she says. “Just in the name itself, it becomes a self-selecting group of people who want to do good for their neighbors. You know you have a rich pool of people who are naturally inclined to help in their community.” 

Whether it’s recruiting volunteers, fundraising for grassroots causes or soliciting product donations to an Amazon wish list, it’s clear that much of what used to happen in service club meeting halls now happens online. The key point, however, is that it’s still happening. 

Dooley says that volunteering helped him recover emotionally and physically from a medical event a few years back. 

“To me, one of the benefits of volunteering is it connects you to this larger aspect of humanity, so you don’t get lost in the darkness,” he says. “If I’m too much in my head and need to get out and do something, I go online and think, ‘Oh my goodness, there’s so much out there to do.’ ”

A former PTA president and Girl Scout troop leader, Kim O’Connell is an active volunteer and writer in Aurora Highlands. 

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