'The world is not just about you'
Raised to think of others, Adwoa Buahene has 'always volunteered'
United Way volunteer Adwoa K. Buahene, right, visits with community garden worker Sharon from Sistering, a drop-in program for women at Masaryk Cowan Community Centre. Buahene is part of a committee which ensures that money given to groups such as Sistering is used appropriately.
Reprinted with permission from Toronto Star*
Donna Jean MacKinnon
Staff reporter
Get Adwoa Buahene, a United Way volunteer, talking about volunteering and you can't stop her.
"I've always volunteered. My mother raised me (to think) the world is not just about you," says Adwoa, a 37-year-old entrepreneur.
Adwoa's first stint as a volunteer, at 12, was spent making crafts with seniors in her native Thunder Bay.
Later, Adwoa was a "comforter" – someone who helps people feel at ease – in Red Cross blood donor clinics.
Adwoa has always enjoyed hands-on projects, such as collecting toiletries for shelters. But after years of this type of charity work, she wanted a more "strategic" use of her skills. A friend directed her to the United Way.
Adwoa applied, was accepted and assigned to an allocations' (of funds) panel. Now in her third year, she is the chair of the Community and Neighbourhood Services, Toronto West panel, made up of five other volunteers and a United Way staff adviser.
There are 15 such panels whose job is to examine existing funding at the United Way's 200 agencies, and to do due diligence – an audit to ensure money is used appropriately.
"We also distribute new money, where needed, and we meet in the agencies to review their programs," Adwoa says. "It's humbling to see what these people do, with so little money."
An allocation panel is a serious commitment. This year, Adwoa's panel covers six agencies. There is prep time – binders full of finances and submissions to review, before the panel considers giving out new monies.
Volunteers also spend four hours a week for six week at the agencies.
"We have to determine which agency is most needy and rank its priorities," Adwoa says. "Then we decide what will be the best use of resources and what programs will make the most positive impact in a community."
In her first year, Adwoa was on a panel with a large budget. One of its recipients was the V.H.A. Home HealthCare organization. Currently, her panel deals with the Lakeshore Area Multiservice Project (LAMP), a large agency that provides many services, including helping integrate immigrants and refugees. The panel is also responsible for smaller grassroots agencies such as the For Youth Initiative.
When Adwoa's panel visited the FYI community centre in a disadvantaged York neighbourhood, they were touched by the effort the teens made to look after them.
"The youth club prepared the food. Even though it wasn't cool to serve food, they did it and were concerned everything was right. They knew they were representing their agency," she says.
The United Way has an amazing number of stakeholders, according to the organization's staff adviser, Radha Nayar.
"Each volunteer gives about 80 to 100 hours. At the allocations' level, it's an intense commitment and involves serious dedication," she says.
So what does Adwoa get out of volunteering?
"I'm looking to give. But it's not about martyrdom," says Adwoa, managing partner in ngen People Performance Inc., a consulting company focused on workplace behaviours. Adwoa views volunteering as a win-win situation. She believes she makes a direct difference on both the individual and community levels and, as an United Way volunteer, she feels her opinions are taken into account and she has a sense she is valuable. Also, Adwoa says she finds coming in contact with less fortunate people puts her life in perspective and encourages self-reflection. She is also interested in what drives the city and understanding her own community and its broader issues.
Because of the United Way's far-reaching arm, she feels she is learning a lot of about Toronto and its structure.
There's a waiting list for volunteering on due-diligence panels, Nayar says. "We rarely have to reruit actively," she says.
* Reproduced with permission - Torstar Syndication Services
Download the pdf of this article - Toronto Star, September 13, 2007
