Munira Tabassum is an IT Support Specialist in Arlington County Government’s Treasurer’s Office. She moved to Arlington in 2019 and continues to enjoy the opportunities to learn more about the local community. Through her internship with Arlington County, she learned about its Time to Give program and found it to be an incredible opportunity to volunteer. She loves how much the County “cares about its people.” This program is important to her because it encourages people to find time to engage with their community, which is also evident by Arlington County taking Volunteer Arlington’s Time to Serve pledge.
Munira has already used approximately 6 of the 16 paid time off hours that Arlington County gives its professionals to volunteer each year. One of the opportunities Munira pursued was supporting the Arlington County Police Department’s toy drive that occurs every holiday season. This opportunity caught her eye because she’s “never really experienced Christmas here; as in this is a happy time of the year, everything looks festive, everybody in the office is putting stuff in our stockings, so I thought in the spirit of that let’s give back to the community.”
This ended up being an enjoyable experience for her. The volunteers had incredible holiday spirit. Someone brought cookies, volunteers shared their own personal stories that the toys they sorted through reminded them of, and the police officers showed the volunteers a bit behind the scenes, including the back of their police cars. She enjoyed this volunteer opportunity so much that she “definitely plans to do it again next year!”
Prior to working on the toy drive, Munira used to volunteer mainly with nonprofits that focused on food insecurity, especially during COVID, because that mission is near and dear to her heart. She noted that she “could relate because when you immigrate to another country as a foreign student it’s a lot of expense that you are covering on minimum wage.” Now, she volunteers at many different places including Arlington County Fair because she considers volunteering to be part of who she is.
One of the main reasons Munira loves volunteering is because of the sense of motivation and positivity she gets from the engagement. She finds that “when you help somebody, it helps yourself as well because you get motivated to do better, you feel positive about yourself, and it teaches you to move past your failures.” This different perspective is something she learned from volunteering. Munira also loves volunteering because it gives her a sense of belonging to the community, not just with the other volunteers but also with those she is helping.
If you are considering community service, Munira recommends just “go and do something for other people.” She notes that volunteering is for everyone!