no whining about good intentions

I just posted a pretty brutal response to whining on Craigslist.

First of all, it really pisses me off when people target for complaint volunteer-donation organizations. They don't owe you!

People think the Red Cross or Habitat for Humanity is supported by tax dollars or something - they're not. They're supported by willing donators, and by volunteers and a few paid staff that are paid as if they're volunteers. Which means, they do their best, but if you don't like what they do then don't donate. You have no right to bitch if they don't give you what you want - as voluntary donational orgs, they don't owe you.

But second of all, I realized that all the volunteers coming here are wasting a lot of money. If our entire goal is to build as much housing as possible, it would make a lot more sense to stop volunteers and instead collect what they would have spent on plane fare, etc. and hire trained professionals to do the job. Things would go much faster.

But that's the point - it's not just about building houses for the indigent. It's about the positive experience of giving of oneself.

Just like schools shouldn't be judged by a factory or business model, volunteer organizations shouldn't be judged by an efficiency standard. There are so many other things going on besides just a house being built - there's meeting the people you're building for, and developing camraderie with the people you travelled with and others, and learning the city you're giving to, and learning something new, etc. etc.

All that said - if people really want to help, then they should write a check rather than take time off work.

But it's like when I was volunteering with the Red Cross, people asked for things like insulin needles and medications. We're not doctors - we're mostly EMTs who give up our free time to help with bumps and scrapes and broken bones and stopped hearts. People who expect us to be doctors will be frustrated, and they will talk trash. You want a doctor, then pay to go to the emergency room.