Recipes for a Healthy You That Don't Involve Cooking: Collaboration

Just over a week ago, I had the pleasure of putting on the Annual here in Dearborn. I work with a great group of people that help me pull it all together and without them the event would NEVER be as successful as it is. The theme of the night was Collaboration. Collaboration is a beautiful word! When you have groups of people getting together and collaborating on a single goal, putting those talents together from each group can only mean one thing... SUCCESS!!

Every aspect of my volunteer life is working with people. Nothing is a one-man or one-woman show. It takes many people to come together as a team to accomplish so many great things throughout the schools and the city. Great things are accomplished through great teamwork!

What many people don't realize is how many people it actually takes to make an event successful.

One of the committees I'm on is the . They have been planning the May event since last fall and when I say "they" I mean literally lots of people. Not two or three. The planning committee is made up of at least 15-25 people each and every year. Every person has a job to do throughout the time leading up to the event and on the day of the Relay, it's amazing to see it all come together. When those 24 hours are done, we are exhausted and ready to sleep for days but we are smiling knowing that what we did made a difference and with our team, we pulled it together and had a great event! 

The fundraises all year long to give away scholarships to Dearborn High School Seniors. February was youth month and in that month we gave away two of our scholarships. We still have a few more scholarships to give away however, as a team, we raised money to support these bright students with their futures! What the general public sees is the end result of the scholarship recipient. What really happens is months of planning with various events that take many people to plan, put it on and work it. 

PTAs across Dearborn Schools are always working together to make school a better place for all the children that go there. I can't talk enough about the men and women of PTA. They are dedicated, focused, caring individuals who work really hard at doing what is necessary to provide for the students at their schools. Every year they put on events, fundraise and advocate for our kids. Every year they are not recognized nearly enough for all the hard work they do. When it comes right down to it, the teamwork that comes out of our PTAs is amazing! I'm very proud to be a part of PTA here in Dearborn and with our state PTA as well!  

When you look around you, notice that nothing is done by just one person. Most of the things that are happening around you are because of teamwork and collaborations among groups of people. These people care about our schools, community and state. They gather together to make it better for all of us. So always remember that it takes all of us to make the world a better place.

I think we all need to really look at what we can do to improve our surroundings and what better way to do that than to get involved. I have only mentioned a few ideas of ways to get involved but there are tons of organizations around that will gladly take your volunteer time to heart!  

One last thing that I have learned from collaboration and from volunteering my time is that it is truly a blessing. The people I have met along the way, the joy I have received from giving to others, and the sense of feeling like I made a difference is totally and 100 percent life changing.