By Genielysse Reyes, Words Alive Volunteer Coordinator
I became a frequent volunteer over ten years ago, during my undergraduate career. There were many spaces in which I volunteered, spaces that held their own values, vibes, and importance. Downtown festivals drew communities closer and celebrated bouts of history and culture. Street cleanups expanded perspectives and empathy. Rallies ignited calls to action.
Since joining the Words Alive team two months ago, I have conversed with many of our stellar volunteers, who have all made a lasting mark on the organization. Through these conversations, I learned more about the volunteer space Words Alive had created. Some volunteers noted that they came to Words Alive because it reminded them of their teacher days. Others shared that it was because they had a love for reading and writing. And some said that they were simply looking for ways to help.
As these volunteers continued their journey with Words Alive, dedicating hours to read to kids, facilitate student book groups, assemble program materials at our office, and deliver books and activities to San Diego families, they all took something away, too. Volunteers stated that through Words Alive, they found new, diverse books to read. They made so many human connections. They felt more self-confident. They felt a sense of belonging.
I learned that the Words Alive volunteer space was one that combined the kinds of spaces I knew before: united by the call to action to advocate the power of reading, and grounded by a strong sense of community and open-mindedness.
To be a Words Alive volunteer is, in a way, to be a reader: a person who visits a world and listens to it, expanding perspective and agency, and feeling changed by the end. I thank the Words Alive volunteers for finding our space and changing it for the better, too.
Staying on theme, I’d like to invite you to my own call to action. We have an abundance of volunteer roles available, including our Read Aloud Program and our graphic novel curriculum team. If you would like to join the Words Alive volunteer community and make a direct difference in the reading journeys of young people all throughout San Diego, click here or email us at [email protected]. Once you visit the world of Words Alive, I have an inkling you’d love to stay.
