Matt Horst - J. Douglas Earthy Community Service Award Winner
Matt Horst - Douglas Earthy Award Winner
In memory of the late Mr. Earthy, the recipients of the J. Douglas Earthy Community Service Award are given a special certificate commemorating the award and their organization receives a grant in support of its work. The recipient of the Earthy Award is selected by a volunteer committee of the Kiwanis Club of Forest City – London, who now manages the award. The award recipient will be a person who has given outstanding volunteer service over a significant period of time to a child and/or youth-serving charitable organization within the City of London and Middlesex County.
2022 Was the first year for the award since the beginning of the Pandemic, and one of the winners, Matt Horst, told us about his experience volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of London and Area.
Q. Congratulations on receiving the J. Douglas Earthy Community Service Award! Can you tell us a bit about your various roles as a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters of London and Area?
Big Brother – 2003 to 2011 (1:1 community based mentoring program)
I was matched with my little, Ryan in May 2003 within the 1:1 community mentoring program for the next 8 years until he turned 18 and graduated from the program. We spent four hours a week on average going to movies, playing basketball and video games and other fun outings.Bowl/Bake for Kids Sake Corporate fundraising team captain – 2005 to present / BFKS committee – 2011-13 and then supporting the committee each year since then.
When I joined Canada Life in 2004, I signed up to be on the Bowl for Kids Sake corporate fundraising team. Over the years I’ve led the team from the company and also served on the organization sub-committees off and on from 2011 to 2020. With great support from employees, friends and the matching donation from Canada Life, the teams have collectively raised over $170K since 2005.Board Member/Board Vice Chair / Board Chair / Governance Committee Member – 2013 to 2022
Joined the board of directors in 2013 and helped provide fiscal and policy oversight to the organization. In 2018, I took on the Vice Chair role and in 2020 I became the board chair for a two year term, finishing in September 2022.Big Brother – 2023 to ??? (In school mentoring program)
I’ve signed up to participate in the in school mentoring program for an hour a week. I’ve completed screening, training and I’m currently awaiting my next match.
Q. What made you decide to start volunteering, and why did you choose to volunteer with BBBSOLA in particular?
A. I used to work for Pillar Non-Profit Network in 2002-2003 and one of my jobs was writing articles in the Londoner about volunteer opportunities for our partner organizations. I wrote an article about Big Brothers and found it so compelling, I was hooked and signed up to be a potential volunteer the next day.
Q. When you first became a Big Brother in 2003, did you ever envisage getting as involved with BBBSOLA as you are now?
A. No, not really. At the time, I didn’t have any experience serving on a board of directors. I’d volunteered on a number of committees for Pillar Non-Profit, the Chamber of Commerce Environment Committee and Corporate Challenge, but never in a leadership role. As I started to get to know the organization, I made a decision that I wanted to pour all of my energy into non-profit organizations that invested in today’s youth/tomorrow’s leaders. It just made sense to me that helping kids reach their full potential was going to be the best long term investment I could possibly make with the time that I had. I was really surprised when two board members approached me in 2013 to join the board and even more surprised to be asked to lead the board later on.
Since then I’ve had the opportunity to work with other organizations as well that align to my volunteer goals. I was a Scout leader for a couple of years from 2018-2020 when my son joined scouts.
Q. What has been the most rewarding part of your volunteering career so far?
A. Here are two things I find most rewarding. Number one is the ability to do kid things with your little like sledding or video games and feel no guilt at all and the second is seeing your little flourish as their confidence grows. As a mentor, we know our job isn’t to change who the little are, but to help them unleash who they have the potential to be by broadening their horizons and helping to show them what is possible. I love that feeling when you’ve shared knowledge with someone and they now know they can take that knowledge and do something great with it!
Q. To people reading this who are considering volunteering, either with BBBSOLA or another organization, what would your advice be to them?
A. I would say first you need to come to terms with your motivation for volunteering. What do you want to get out of it and what are you willing to commit to be successful. You need to honour the commitment you make to your little (for at least one year). Premature match endings do happen, but if it’s not for a very good reason, the little will feel abandoned and it could damage their self confidence. Commit to the training, commit to the theory of change and commit to the agreed engagement parameters.
Secondly, don’t be afraid to let your guard down. Kids can sense when you aren’t being genuine and part of the mentoring relationship is letting your little get to know the real you as well, as long as the relationship development stays within the well-defined boundaries of the program.
Q. How does doing voluntary work in a leadership role such as being on a board of directors compare with doing paid work? Are there any key similarities or differences that people should consider before choosing to volunteer in a leadership role?
A. My heart has always been with the non-profit sector. From day one working with volunteers at the 2001 Canada Games in London, I knew that they were special people with incredible capacity to give. I’ve been so very fortunate in my life that I feel compelled to give time and money to deserving organizations. I call my volunteer work my “heart healthy” job because selfishly, it just makes me feel good knowing that I’ve been able to play a small role in helping the community. Those types of opportunities don’t come along often in a paid role, but I have to mention that Canada Life as an employer is an incredible supporter of the non-profit community, both financially and also as an advocacy group. They sponsor hundreds of corporate fundraising teams, give generously to the United Way and give their employees one paid volunteer day each year to contribute to a local organization.
As far as similarities and differences between paid and volunteer roles, I think if you’ve ever had the privilege of working with a motivated volunteer as a paid staff member and you learn how to treat them right, that type of leadership will carry over well to supporting your paid staff. The only other advice I could give regarding paid work, is try to find a job or at least a part of a job that contains that “heart healthy” meaningful work that makes a difference to someone else. Even if you don’t have a direct connection to the clients; if you know that the work you are doing is going to make someone else’s life better, keep that notion as a focal point in your life.