notmeadoc Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Has anyone done this? I made a decision this morning to give up a relatively long-term volunteer position. I probably volunteered for this organization for about 300 hours. The director recently changed(in the fall) and his replacement is this woman who doesn't have the greatest interpersonal skills. I committed to 4 hours per week a long time ago - I don't have time for more than that. She phones me at least 3 times per day asking if I'm available for extra volunteer time. When I'm there - she makes constant remarks about how she needs more help, and how I'm not showing great committment. About a month ago I said the following after one of her remarks - "It makes me feel really wonderful that you want me to help more. If I had the time, I would gladly offer more of myself, however, I am a full time student and a mother of two. I don't have any more time to give other than what I'm already giving." She said "Well, if you were committed to the project you would find the time." It's gone on and on like this and I'm no longer enjoying volunteering there. As of right now - if I leave - I have a great reference(not that I'm necessarily going to use them), and I leave on great and wonderful terms. I feel like it's getting to the point that I'm now biting my tongue and I don't want to feel that. I'm just telling them that my schedule no longer allows me to volunteer for them and that I am thankful to them for the opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankMasterFlex Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 That's a really strange situation, in all of my volunteering I've never experienced anything like that. I've had organizations joke about sabotaging med school applications to keep me there, but nothing like this. I think you handled it as best you could have. If they don't seem to value the time you are putting in and you aren't enjoying it anymore, I think you're making the right call. Volunteering for something you don't enjoy never ends well... I hear time and time again how difficult it is to recruit and more importantly keep volunteers. It sounds like they're going to have some trouble... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hking03 Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 That's a really strange situation, in all of my volunteering I've never experienced anything like that. I've had organizations joke about sabotaging med school applications to keep me there, but nothing like this. I think you handled it as best you could have. If they don't seem to value the time you are putting in and you aren't enjoying it anymore, I think you're making the right call. Volunteering for something you don't enjoy never ends well... I hear time and time again how difficult it is to recruit and more importantly keep volunteers. It sounds like they're going to have some trouble... I agree with tank 100%. If you aren't enjoying yourself get out of it sooner rather than later. As for reference letters- couldn't the previous program director give you a reference based on the information he has, that way you would avoid any potential for negative reference letters. Whatever happens, good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocT7 Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Has anyone done this? I made a decision this morning to give up a relatively long-term volunteer position. I probably volunteered for this organization for about 300 hours. The director recently changed(in the fall) and his replacement is this woman who doesn't have the greatest interpersonal skills. I committed to 4 hours per week a long time ago - I don't have time for more than that. She phones me at least 3 times per day asking if I'm available for extra volunteer time. When I'm there - she makes constant remarks about how she needs more help, and how I'm not showing great committment. About a month ago I said the following after one of her remarks - "It makes me feel really wonderful that you want me to help more. If I had the time, I would gladly offer more of myself, however, I am a full time student and a mother of two. I don't have any more time to give other than what I'm already giving." She said "Well, if you were committed to the project you would find the time." It's gone on and on like this and I'm no longer enjoying volunteering there. As of right now - if I leave - I have a great reference(not that I'm necessarily going to use them), and I leave on great and wonderful terms. I feel like it's getting to the point that I'm now biting my tongue and I don't want to feel that. I'm just telling them that my schedule no longer allows me to volunteer for them and that I am thankful to them for the opportunity. I had a very similar situation happen to me just before Christmas and I ended up reaching very similar conclusions. I ended up leaving the position in January and I certainly don't regret it; it was the best thing I could have done. While not burning bridges or getting into any negative situations, I thanked them and just told them that my schedule no longer allowed me to provide them with the attention the program needed and that, out of respect, it was unfair to me to hold the position over somebody else (was that type of position). I agree with what everyone else is saying - you have very legitimate reasons to leave (you're not just quitting because you'd rather watch tv, for example) and your time may end up being better spent somewhere else. Find something that you enjoy and that is beneficial to you in return, and put your time, heart and efforts into that Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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