Just when you think you've seen everything in volunteerism, somebody comes along with something totally new.

And then you discover that other people are thinking about it as well.

Steve was sitting in the Washington Dulles airport over the holidays, engaging in the popular airport occupation of people watching. In front of him was a young couple en route to Vermont , laden with lots of bags of Christmas presents to take to friends and family.

It was the bags that caught his attention.

Two of them were from a familiar store – REI, or Recreational Equipment, Inc., an outdoor equipment supplier. The interesting part was the message blazoned on the side of the bags: “Volunteer with us!”

---------

Steve and Susan highlight what might be a new trend – “customer volunteering” – and what might be the implications of this form of service, both philosophically and managerially.

Other e-Volunteerism Articles

This article was published in e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community. Subscribe now to access all the articles.

Concerned about whether you can view an electronic book? Viewing the terms of agreement below is a good test to see if you can easily view electronic books. If you can successfully click on the link and open the table of contents, you should have no problem viewing the book. Terms If you have problems, you probably need to install or upgrade Acrobat Reader. Click on the graphic below to download the latest version from the Adobe website. It is an easy download. They also have a support area if you continue to have problems with viewing.