Celebration is one of the most important parts of service.

No matter how you serve – alone or in a group, with an agency or through a self-organized project, for a day or a year – you should always celebrate what you’ve accomplished.

Celebrating offers an opportunity to thank everyone who was involved in the service effort: volunteers, donors, agency staff,  community members or residents and others.

Volunteers invest the time, energy, attention, and resources that make service successful so don’t forget to say thank you!

Here are a few quick ideas:

• Around Thanksgiving, write handwritten notes to your volunteers saying how thankful you are for them.
• Give your best volunteers a thank you card with a roll of life savers attached and thank them for being a life saver!
• Organize a meet up at a local restaurant after a group project and have everyone take turns making up silly awards for each other and toasting to the winners. “Here’s to the King of the Hammer!” (You get the idea)
• Nominate outstanding volunteers for National Awards such as the President’s Volunteer Service Award and the Daily Point of Light Award.

Celebration and recognition can be something as simple as saying the words or sending an email, or it can be a party or a coffee hour or a bulletin board beside the freeway.

What’s important is the effort, making sure that people know their service is appreciated.

Make it personal and meaningful by thinking creatively.

How do you like to be recognized and thanked?

What would be an appropriate way to celebrate the people who are serving with you?