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SA Firefighter General / Why did you walk through the door and join? What keeps you in the service?
« on: November 16, 2007, 02:48:52 PM »
I am sure this has been discussed before, but I was talking to some of my work collegues about why I joined the CFS and why I continue to do it.
After thinking about it, I answered them with the following statement.
"I joined because I wanted to make a difference in my community, I always had a lot of spare time, so volunteering with a community based organisation was what I decided to do. Then two summers ago I was staying with a friend at her grandparents place when we were asked to assist the local CFS brigade (Blancetown) with manning the radio room. My friends grandad and uncles are members of Blancetown.
From the first moment I walked into the station, to when I finished and left, I knew instintively that this was something that I wanted to do. When I got home from my trip away, I looked on the net for my local brigade. I was able to pick from about three, so I went with the one closest to my home.
I stay cause I love the comradery at my brigade, and within my Group. I love helping people, and the best reward is the thanks I get from the community.
My collegues cant understand that I am willing to do what we do, with out pay. When I tell them that I do it cause I love helping people, I love working as part of a team doing something positive, and I love the sense of family I get in the service. And that I have also learnt heaps about myself, how to cope under pressure, skills that I can apply to everyday life. They say I must be crazy not to want a pay check for it. But to me, the thanks from the community, the childrens eyes that light up when they see the appliance and you let them touch the tools, makes it all worth it."
After thinking about it, I answered them with the following statement.
"I joined because I wanted to make a difference in my community, I always had a lot of spare time, so volunteering with a community based organisation was what I decided to do. Then two summers ago I was staying with a friend at her grandparents place when we were asked to assist the local CFS brigade (Blancetown) with manning the radio room. My friends grandad and uncles are members of Blancetown.
From the first moment I walked into the station, to when I finished and left, I knew instintively that this was something that I wanted to do. When I got home from my trip away, I looked on the net for my local brigade. I was able to pick from about three, so I went with the one closest to my home.
I stay cause I love the comradery at my brigade, and within my Group. I love helping people, and the best reward is the thanks I get from the community.
My collegues cant understand that I am willing to do what we do, with out pay. When I tell them that I do it cause I love helping people, I love working as part of a team doing something positive, and I love the sense of family I get in the service. And that I have also learnt heaps about myself, how to cope under pressure, skills that I can apply to everyday life. They say I must be crazy not to want a pay check for it. But to me, the thanks from the community, the childrens eyes that light up when they see the appliance and you let them touch the tools, makes it all worth it."