Volunteering – Corporate Social Responsibility, Community Service

During my career, Corporate Social Responsibility, better known by its acronym “CSR” was a popular topic in every industry.   The concept of giving back to the community (community service) was in the spotlight and an important component in managing a business.   Companies rushed to develop, establish and participate in their own or others’ CSR programs and to ensure that their efforts were well publicized.  Companies wanted the public to know their intentions, actions, and results.   Communities praised those businesses for their contributions and often criticized those that did not.   CSR was an essential part of the business plan and budgets were annually allocated for this purpose.  

Today, CSR continues to be a major part of many businesses, large and small.

To learn about CSR was important to me and what I learned over the years, I try to practice even today in some small,  personal way.  It was a part of my professional career and life then and should continue to be a part of my life to the end.    Everyday, I look for ways to give back, to do my part in contributing to others, and to be a good citizen in the community.   As an individual, the projects may be much smaller in scale but certainly no less meaningful. 

Not long ago, I was asked to help out at the YMCA with a group of ladies who were interested in playing “Mahjong.”   This is a game that goes back over 300 years in China and today has spread around the world with popularity, growing consistently.   The game is truly Chinese culture.  Today, it isn’t only Chinese people who play the game though they all follow the Chinese rules in most cases.  The game has been transformed to many different versions depending on the country where  the game is played but the basic principle remains the same. 

To teach this group the game is my way of helping while promoting Chinese culture. 

I have personally enjoyed this game for over 60 years and felt comfortable about teaching it to others, so I gratefully accepted the request to help.   The small group of ladies I met were genuinely interested and enthusiastic about the game.  When there is interest, teaching is not difficult.  It has been a few months now and today; the ladies are truly engaged with mahjong and they have consistently recruited more to join.  It also established new friendships among the group.   Perhaps the game will help make these friendships long lasting.  

It started out as one and half hours on a Monday afternoon.   Today, it is Monday and Friday with a minimum of two hours and often ending only when the facility needs the room or closes.   I am sure that this energy for the game will grow even more with time.  Their enthusiasm towards the game is commendable.  To see them learning and enjoying this game is worthy of every minute I spend in teaching them.   They have even collectively named me a “mahjong teacher extraordinaire,” quite an honor.

To help a group of ladies learn Mahjong may seem trivial, but to me, it was community service. 

However, the reward in seeing their smiles and enjoyment of the game is breath taking.  I have other community projects as well but this one is FUN.