Hi, I’m Rex and I had an idea that became ProjectOKC several years ago. We started with four people sitting around a table eating pizza and ended up with over 400 volunteers involved in service opportunities all around Oklahoma City. This was a pet project of mine, one for which I drew no income. Actually, I took a part time job and poured countless hours into developing ProjectOKC. I loved it, I breathed it, and it connected me to great people and leaders all over our city. Without ProjectOKC I’d never have met so many great friends and connected with visionary leaders in OKC.
Why the change? Well, it was time. You see, something happens when you have an entire social network looking at projects. Everyone thinks everyone else will carry the weight. The truth is, that just doesn’t happen. So, what I began to see was that as we grew, fewer people volunteered. Oddly, we did get a lot more RSVPs but an RSVP is worthless if the body doesn’t show when it’s go time. You see, I didn’t plan on ProjectOKC growing as quickly as it did. Therefore, there was no infrastructure in place to accommodate new volunteers and accumulate leaders to run new events.
My solution? Push the restart button, take a step back, and begin to focus on core leaders that will be able to handle volunteer growth and development. I met with leaders all around OKC bouncing ideas off them and Love OKC is the idea that stuck.
What’s different? Easy, we’re FOCUSED on one project each month. A project in which I’m personally involved. As time goes on other leaders will begin to do ONE project a month, gathering THEIR 20 people to LOVE OKC for five hours. See, sustainable growth with quality volunteer coordinators taking a role in making things happen!
We’re no longer a faceless organization that acts as a clearing house for volunteer opportunities, it’s me, Rex Barrett, asking you to give five hours one time a month. That’s it, it’s easy, and you need to be involved. Please join the mailing list to be informed when the 20 monthly spots open.