Building a Community, One Volunteer at a Time

詹姆斯·沃索吉(James vosoughi)一直喜欢为他人服务，但在2013年之前，这并不是他的爱好. Then his best friend died in a tragic accident.

“The loss of a dear friend put my life into perspective,” Vossoughi recalls. “I realized life is short, 我认为不是每个人都拥有的东西是理所当然的——比如餐桌上的食物, a roof over my head and family and friends who loved me.”

沃索基决定要改变他周围人的生活, but didn’t know the best place to start. Where could he make the greatest difference? Have the most influence? Begin changing lives?

Making Connections

Vossoughi started by trying to improve one life. In 2014, he began volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area. They matched him with a six year-old little brother, Zacary.

Over the years, 这对夫妇做了很多简单的事情，比如把沃索吉的狗带到公园——在那里，扎卡里开始走出他的壳，和其他狗主人谈论他们的宠物——玩飞盘, football and even sailing. Most recently, they visited James’ brother, who is an engineer in Sacramento. 这让现年15岁的扎卡里在高中毕业后进一步探索了他对机械工程的兴趣.

最近刚迎来女儿莱拉的沃索吉也向扎卡里学习. “他比我更了解新生儿，因为他和寄养的兄弟姐妹一起长大，”沃索吉解释说. “He’s going to be Uncle Zacary, and will be a part of my child’s life.”

扎卡里和沃索吉已经同意他们将永远是彼此生活的一部分. 这可能就是为什么旧金山湾区的大哥大姐会把这对搭档评为年度大哥小弟的原因, 这个奖项是颁给师徒关系，帮助弟弟实现最好的未来，也对哥哥产生了终身的影响.

“That was my first foray into volunteering," Vossoughi recalls. “I really wanted something consistent where I could create long term impact.”

Expanding His Scope

Seeing the difference he made for Zacary, Vossoughi realized it didn’t take much to make a big impact in someone’s life. 他开始通过当地的两个非营利组织改变一个大学生和一个大四学生的生活.

其中一个非营利组织旨在为年轻学习者提供经济资源, education programming, 指导, 还有一个支持他们的社区，帮助他们和他们的家人在高等教育和职业生涯中寻求和发展. Paired with John, a college student, Vossoughi helped him manage his classes, prepare his resume and find his way through a maze of major life events. 几年前，约翰大学毕业了，这对他和詹姆斯来说都是一个值得骄傲的时刻.

沃索吉还开始与一家专门从事老年人生活社区和项目的非营利组织合作. He spent time with two seniors—one who couldn’t leave their home, 另一个人被限制在床上，通过高质量的时间和谈话与他们建立情感联系.

“Through the three organizations, I got to connect with all age ranges, 了解他们，以及我如何成为他们的朋友，并根据我自己的经历帮助他们度过生活中的不同经历," says Vossoughi. "That was what I set out to do.”

到现在为止, 沃索吉已经实现了他在2013年设定的目标，并正在改变他周围许多人的生活. But he realized that his community needed more help. “I’m only one person. I wondered, how I could do more?" he explains. “这就是我加入12bet官方志愿者领导小组(VLG)的原因.”

From One to Many

Volunteerism is an important part of JP摩根 追逐’s culture, but when Vossoughi started working at the bank, there weren’t a lot of company-sponsored volunteer events in the Bay Area. In a busy year there were a handful or so; in a slower year, only one.

And when there were events, volunteers weren’t always showing up. “That affected me,” Vossoughi says. “I knew folks wanted to give back and I knew the community needed it; that’s why I became an active member of the VLG.”

Working through the Bay Area VLG, 他看到许多人的努力可以对一个社区产生巨大的影响. 在星期六，一个人独自工作可以为一个家建一堵墙或捡一袋垃圾. But when a group of volunteers got together, 他们可以通过仁人家园或清洁床垫来建造房屋的一部分, 轮胎, 通过小溪清理，从未来的经济适用房场地上废弃的家具.

VLG为员工提供了与同事联系的机会，在不过度投入时间的情况下，在各种各样的事业上有所作为.

“Most of the volunteer activities are one-time events, which allow me to pursue my passion, as well as help others find their passion for the community, which was always important to me,” Vossoughi says. “这就是我如何通过将人们聚集在一起来实现更大的改变来加强影响.”

As word-of-mouth picked up, soon the events were in high demand. 2019年，该组织的活动达到了82个活动的峰值，志愿服务时间超过4200小时.

“我们通过建立一个让许多不同的当地组织受益的团体，为12bet官方的志愿者创造了一种社区意识," Vossoughi explains. “由于这种对社区的服务，我们的员工对他们工作的组织更加自豪.”

Vossoughi is now the group's executive sponsor. “我不再需要像以前那样组织那么多的活动，因为我们有这么多的人站出来,他说. “我的同事把我和为社区服务联系在一起，这是我非常自豪的事情.”

Making a Career Out of Community 影响

Vossoughi’s community involvement also became part of his day job. In 2013, 他加入了12bet官方商业银行的社区发展银行团队, 他所在的团队为低收入社区成员提供经济适用房融资, including veterans, the unhoused, seniors and families among others.

“Housing is something I’ve always been passionate about, whether it’s through financing, 通过像仁人家园这样的组织，成为项目建设的一部分, or helping build planter beds later on," Vossoughi says. "My title may be Banker, but if I’m not seen as a partner to the organizations I’m working with, then I’m not doing enough.”

12bet官方传达的信息很明确:员工希望以大大小小的方式为社区服务. “We’re here to be a true partner," Vossoughi says. "We’re here to support you with financing, but also with volunteers. We’re not just your bankers; we’re also your neighbors focused on doing everything we can to provide for our communities.”