ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Kansas is full of great people doing great things for others.
“It’s who we are – it’s what we do,” a recent op-ed from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas said.
The op-ed went on to say Kansas ranks eighth nationally in formal volunteering, and at BCBSKS, service is not just a buzzword.
“It’s a fundamental part of our identity as a company,” the op-ed said.
BCBSKS Community Relations Director Marlou Wegener said company employees can volunteer in a variety of corporate projects.
“As much as we want to try to do everything for everyone, we can’t always do that, so we focus a lot on our corporate projects we have,” she said. “When I say corporate projects, I’m talking about those partnerships where we want to be able to ask every employee if possible to be helpful in someway or another.”
Those partnerships include United Way organizations across the Sunflower State, and along with a strong partnership with the American Red Cross, Wegener said BCBSKS has partnered with other organizations as well.
“It’s not in all areas of the state, but Junior Achievement of Kansas is another major partner of ours where we have employees, in particular in Topeka, who are volunteering for that,” she said.
BCBSKS likewise works heavily with Meals on Wheels programs, particularly in Topeka and Lawrence.
“What we’re working on is trying to integrate that as well with other Meals on Wheels programs around the state,” Wegener said. “One of our strategies is to work harder. I have additional staff, so that’s super helpful on more opportunities for more employees in trying to make a bigger footprint throughout our entire service territory as much as we possibly can. We prioritize the communities where we have office locations, which are 11 communities in the state.”
Wegener said Kansans and those at her company are very good at volunteering.
“We talk a lot about how we’re Kansans serving Kansans in a variety of ways, and it’s important to us as a company and having that strategy that our employees have the capability to give back to other Kansans,” she said.
April 21 through 27 is National Volunteer Week, and Wegener said there are many things a person can get out of volunteering.
“They’re giving back to clientele of particular non-profits,” she said. “They’re learning about non-profits and some unfortunate situations.”
Wegener herself is a volunteer, and she said she has been blessed from the experience of giving back to others.
There’s work to do and we can all work together to do that,” she said. “I would also say in some instances besides giving back from a volunteer perspective that our employees do, we also take a look at what non-profits that our staff could serve on their boards of directors that fit our mission, primarily a health related mission. Those kinds of things in particular, especially board service, really offer an opportunity for leadership development for our staff as well.”
One particular blessing for Wegener in her role at BCBSKS is being able to guide the volunteer strategy for other employees.
“It’s been exciting to watch other employees grow and develop and have opportunities to give back from the volunteering sense,” she said.
Wegener said she had a blessed upbringing, and she uses this to discover the capabilities she has that will be helpful to give back to organizations serving clients having struggles, challenges or unfortunate circumstances. She said this is just one reason she volunteers.
“The other thing I get to do, which I’m so thankful to the company, is I do serve on numerous boards of directors and have really developed leadership skills and learned in depth about a variety of non-profits and governing them and how to make things better,” she said.
A recent U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps survey reported formal volunteer participation dropped seven percentage points between 2019 and 2021 to 23.2 percent, no doubt in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Has volunteering recovered? Both local non-profits and Wegener said the numbers have begun to bounce back.
“It’s been a challenge the last few years since the pandemic for a lot of non-profits in regards to development, fundraising, their work, and I feel Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas overall has played an important role in giving back from a time perspective and also contributions in regards to helping them get through this hard time,” she said.
One particular effect the lack of volunteerism had was with non-profits who traditionally relied on in-person services not being able to have such services available. Wegener said, though, since the pandemic, those services are again being seen in bigger numbers.
“If anything people have been for a while ready to get back out and be supportive of the non-profits we have in our state,” she said. “We don’t experience too many issues or challenges when we are offering volunteer opportunities to our employees where those slots are filled quickly. We know we’re fortunate because of that.”
Wegener said it is important for companies such as BCBSKS to have volunteer opportunities for employees.
“It is coming around,” she said. “We see it here, and I know other non-profits have as well. I think people are excited to get back out and about.”
Of course, giving back is a huge aspect to volunteering, and while financial and contributing perspectives are talked about much, Wegener said overall, volunteerism itself is important as a whole.
“It’s a great way to give back,” she said.
So when people are considering become a volunteer, Wegener said she first suggests finding non-profits and organizations a person is passionate about and learning about them.
“It does a lot,” she said. “It’s a really feel good kind of experience, as well as it’s helping this non-profit to do things more than likely they don’t have the staff to do always. You get to interact with the clients a lot of times of particular non-profits.”
Wegener said some volunteer opportunities can have a tangible impact as well.
“I packed 50 food boxes, and I know those are going to 50 families who really need that assistance when you think of such a basic need as food,” she said. “It is a feel good thing. It’s very helpful and very beneficial to the non-profit too.”
Wegener said for her, volunteering is a great experience.
“You’re finding out about organizations, the clients they serve,” she said. “Maybe we don’t always realize or understand the challenges people face, and knowing by volunteering, you’re helping, especially in many situations, where there is not staff to do the same job. It’s really helping that non-profit out from a financial perspective as well.”
After finding out about organizations, Wegener said she encourages people to volunteer for something they see as a passion.
“There’s a lot of wonderful non-profits in our state that do wonderful work,” she said. “It’s always important to figure out the passion I have for particular issues, look for those non-profits that can have that volunteerism to help their clients. I would start there.”
Wegener said volunteering is also a great team building exercise to do with others, including family members, whether it’s coworkers.
“I tried to do that with my kids when they were smaller to also build in them the importance of giving back,” she said.
