A pleasant surprise, to say the least

I wanted to post this last night, but I didn't have time. To a large extent, I still don't know what to think about it.

First, a little background.

For the last six years, I have been a board member of the Hancock County Youth As Resources (YAR). For the last four or five years, I have been a board member of the Youth As Resources of Central Indiana (YARCI). And for the last two years, I have also been on the county United Way board.

Youth As Resources is a United Way of Central Indiana agency that gives grant money to youth-led, community service projects. In my time on the board, we have given money to church groups, school groups, scout groups, and others.

Unfortunately, my six-year term on the county YAR board is coming to an end in a couple of months. And since I won't be on the county board, I will no longer be eligible to be on the YARCI board.

Yesterday afternoon, we had our county's annual United Way Celebration Luncheon, celebrating the success of the past year's fundraising initiative.

A few weeks before the luncheon, I got an email from the county director of United Way making sure I was going to be preset for the luncheon.

"Since you are leaving the YAR board, we will be recognizing your service!" she wrote.

I was a bit surprised by this, but didn't think too much of it. I figured they would call my name, I would go up, shake someone's hand, get a certificate, maybe smile for a picture, and sit down again. No big deal, and I would end up with a certificate worthy of framing and displaying. And it would be good publicity for YAR.

Or so I thought.

I was called up, and the county director of YAR got up and gave a full-page speech about the various things I have done and accomplished in my tenure as a YAR board member, and how valuable I was to the board, and how much I will be missed. I wasn't expecting anything like that.

And then they turn to the table next to the podium and grab not a certificate like I was expecting, but a free-standing plaque.

The plaque reads, "In grateful appreciating for your dedicated volunteer service to United Way of Central Indiana - Jason Corfman."

I was stunned, to say the least.

I later emailed the county director of YAR thanking her for the award, and telling her how surprised I was at getting it.

"You are so very, very welcome and so very, very deserving of the award. The first one ever, mind you! Just a small token of appreciation for what you have done for YAR," she wrote back.

I even got mentioned in the Daily Reporter today in their writeup on the luncheon.

"Also, Jason Corfman, a longtime board member with Youth as Resources, a United Way initiative, received an award honoring his six years of service to the organization.

"Youth as Resources teaches young people about community service by awarding small grants to youth-run groups for civic projects."

A couple of years ago, it was no big deal to get my name in the paper, but since I'm not a reporter anymore, I don't see my name in print very often.

I'm still trying to come to grips with this. I'm extremely honored, but I can't help wondering, "Why me?" For the most part, all I have done is show up at the meetings. Granted, between the county YAR and YARCI, and the various committees I have been on in both (and at times, all the committees), I have near perfect attendance for six years (disregarding one YARCI committee meeting that was scheduled on the same night as the county YAR meeting, and the county YAR and YARCI meetings on succeeding nights that I missed when my mother-in-law died, I have only missed one committee meeting in six years). And yes, in events that require it, I try to show up early to help set up and stay late to help clean up afterwards. And yes, I have been enthusiastic about serving YAR. And yes, I like wearing my YARCI t-shirt. But those don't really seem award-worthy.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not about to give it back. But if I had really known what they were planning, I probably would have tried to talk them out of it, or at least into something a little less... extravagent.

Still, I am going to remember yesterday for a long time to come.

SUPPLEMENTAL: When I wrote the post above, I forgot to mention that this award I got would go nicely with a large plaque that I have in my possession that was given to my grandfather when he retired as "Executive Secretary" from United Way in his home town. He was given the plaque a little over a year before he died, and it has been hanging up in my grandmother's house until I took it down and kept it.

I was looking at his plaque and realized that the date on his was Feb. 23, 1988 (he went to work for United Way in 1975, which is the year I was born). Although my plaque doesn't have a date, it was presented to me on March 6, 2008, almost exactly 20 years after Grandpa got his plaque.

It seems United Way service runs in the family.