Tag: volunteer

Win a group entry to Chicago’s Urban Assault ride on May 22

From the website: “The Urban Assault Ride is the biggest bicycle scavenger hunt series in the nation!

Here’s how it works: You and your teammate will set out on a city-wide quest for ‘checkpoints’ on your favorite two-wheeled steeds.  At each checkpoint, you’ll drop your bikes and complete a funky/adventurous obstacle course, then remount your bikes and hit the streets for more.”

I volunteered in 2008 with my coworker/roommate Frank. Promoter Sarah contacted me and we’re offering Steven Can Plan readers a free group entry (you and a friend) to the hunt on Sunday, May 22. She says that the ride is “about turning recreation and fitness cyclists into bike commuters by providing them with a fun and non-threatening opportunity to discover the Chicago bike infrastructure.”

I definitely had a lot of fun operating the Keg Walk checkpoint where costumed racers walked on mini kegs across a grassy field in Lincoln Park (see photos below).

So how do you win?

  • Tweet your favorite Steven Can Plan blog post now until Saturday, May 14th. You can do this as many times as you want but you get one entry!
  • Make sure to mention @stevevance and write #favepost in the tweet so I know you tweeted for this contest.
  • I’ll make a list of everyone who tweeted a post and mentioned me and then pick someone using a random number from Random.org.
  • I’ll announce the winner on Sunday, May 15th, via Twitter.
  • You’ll have to come to get your packet a week later on Saturday, May 21st, at Murphy’s Bleachers, 3655 North Sheffield.

Volunteering is up

For 8 weeks within December, January and February, I was without employment.

I was temporarily laid off. So I volunteered. As did millions of other people. A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on January 26, 2010, puts the overall number of volunteers in September 2009 at 63.4 million people. So far in 2010, I’ve put in 27 hours at a social services organization. Last year, I volunteered 9 hours at two organizations*. My goal last year was to do 20 hours by Labor Day. That didn’t happen so I guess I’m finishing that goal now.

A volunteer at Sunday Parkways (now called Open Streets) in Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Eric Rogers.

Who is the most likely person to volunteer: A white, married woman with a college degree, without children under 18. The number one volunteer category: religious organizations, leading the second category, educational and youth services, by 8 percentage points.

Have you volunteered recently? Do you prefer that your volunteer work benefit you in some way? For example, do you want your time spent volunteering to teach you a new skill, or are you satisfied with just helping out?

Fast Company shows this information on an infographic.

By the way, as this photo makes evident, I am back at work!

*Two of these hours were spent talking to people at Millennium Park about the Burnham Pavilion designed by Ben van Berkel. The people were annoying – a lady asking me why she might want go to Grant Park prompted by “resignation.”