Volunteers come in all shapes and sizes
They can be more or less old, rich or smart,
But they have eyes open wide, and down deep inside
They’ve been blessed with an oversized heart.
Some volunteer because “it is there”,
Like Sir Edmund who conquered Everest,
And Madame Curie discovered radium
Proving that she was the cleverest.
Who began the first schools and hospitals?
Who stormed the Bastille amid cheers?
Who do you think demolished the Berlin Wall?
Volunteers! Volunteers! Volunteers!
Some volunteer to bring goodness from grief
Like the woman who founded SIDS,
And plenty of parents become volunteers
Because it is part of their love for their kids.
That’s how I came to organise scout camps,
And why I managed a basketball team;
Once I voluntarily painted a phone box red
After my kids had painted it green!
Maybe you’ve fostered a litter of puppies
Or cooked up a mountain of snags,
Or spent a few years amid blood, sweat and tears
Sorting through boxes of rags.
If it’s cooking or filing or counselling,
Or just wiping noses and bums,
Or getting your claws into some worthy cause
And doing some good with your chums
Whatever you’re doing for nothing
The angels are smiling above
‘Cos the very best jobs that you’ll ever do
Are the ones that you do for love.
Carmel O’Brien Manager Doncare Clinical Services
Volunteers Poem 
