By definition, volunteering is an altruistic activity, one intended to do good or improve others’ quality of life. There is no financial gain involved, so what makes people volunteer to help in communities? John Fanning was a recent recipient of a Local Supervalu Tidy Towns Hero Award in the national Tidy Towns Competition, and was also the Pride of Place volunteer of the Year Award in Co. Meath for his community volunteer work. In a conversation with The Epoch Times, John explained some of his reasons for volunteering.
“This comes from my mother and father actually, they were farmers down in North Cork. My mother god rest her, I remember her back in the 1950s when things were tight,” said John. The family had a man working for them on the farm, and it was discussed over tea one evening that they may have to let the man go. “My father said to my mother that things were very tight, we are just barely able to pay the worker.” However, because the man had a sister staying with him who was a widow and, in those days, there was no proper social welfare, they decided that they couldn’t let him go. “‘We can’t let him go because he has to look after his sister.’ That has stuck with me until now,” said John.
He also recounted the fact that his mother, who was orphaned at seven, looked after all the elderly people in her family, something that was also marvelled at by her neighbours. “None of them were ever sent away to homes. They all died at home with their family. I asked her that as a kid, why she kept them at home, and she replied that they were family, the family she never had as a child.”
John said he was delighted to receive his awards, and that he would continue to help out in the community for as long as he could.
Well Deserved
According to Alan Tobin, a local business man from Ashbourne and President of the Ashbourne Chamber of Commerce, “John is a well-deserving recipient of the Pride of Place volunteer award.”
John even coached Alan at underage hurling. Alan says: “John can been seen in all weather out doing his Tidy Town volunteer work around the community, even recently when he had some bad health. He was still out doing what he was doing before his pneumonia, just a fellow who really always works for the community. He was my hurling coach back in the day. He’s going to leave a legacy behind and it’s important that people follow in his footsteps.
“To give him recognition is also to give the other people involved in the Tidy Town work recognition as-well. It creates a buzz around the whole community activity, this encourages other people to join in and get involved,” said Alan.
John and the other volunteers in the Tidy Towns group have been involved in collaborative efforts to keep the community tidy, and especially with efforts involving the local chamber of commerce. Speaking about their collaborative efforts and how they too help build relationships in the community, Alan said: “When there is a big project that needs a larger effort, John was able to get help from people in the retail association, the chamber of commerce and the Lions Club because we have all worked together on previous projects. It means there is a broader section of people to help.”
Bernadine Carry from Meath Pride of Place said: “We do awards for all communities each year that look after their environment, enhance it and keep it clean and safe. We have never done a volunteer award, even though we have been asked to before by many community groups.
“We just never felt that we could pick one person out, but this year the national Tidy Towns for the first time decided to that they would recognise a number of people that they felt stood out over the years for their contributions to the work of Tidy Towns. In Meath, John Fanning was the person chosen,” said Ms Carry.
“We decided to follow suit and acknowledge John and his contribution and achievement in the national Tidy Towns, and thus award him the Meath Pride of Place volunteer of the year award. From now on we will accept nominations from community groups for this title.”
Ms Carry said that they have been running the Pride of Place award for 13 years now, with at least 120 active community groups across the county who would be out and about maintaining their communities.
“Besides being incredibly cost effective, this type of work’s value is immeasurable. It also creates very safe communities; people get to know each other, they build bonds, and they are aware of what is happening in their community,” said Ms Carry.
