Most charities want people who can promise a whole day every week. Fewer and fewer people can. A group in Tainan decided to try the opposite and asked for two hours, once a month, with no long-term promise at all.
In the first year 340 people signed up, four times the number the old system had attracted. Only a third stayed beyond twelve months, but the manager is not worried. She says a short, pleasant experience makes people return later, often once their own children have grown up.
Other groups are now copying the idea, though a few complain that training so many newcomers is expensive.
大多數慈善機構想要的，是能承諾每週投入一整天的人。而能做到的人越來越少。台南有個團體決定反其道而行，只要求每月兩小時，完全不必做長期承諾。
第一年就有 340 人報名，是舊制度所吸引人數的四倍。留下超過十二個月的只有三分之一，但負責人並不擔心。她說，一次短暫而愉快的經驗會讓人日後再回來，往往是在自己的孩子長大之後。
其他團體現在也開始仿效這個做法，不過也有少數人抱怨，訓練這麼多新手的成本很高。
Sunday 14 April, 8:00 a.m. — meet at the car park by the lighthouse
We finish at eleven, and hot soup is served in the beach hut afterwards. Please bring your own cup.
If heavy rain is forecast, the event moves to the following Sunday. A message will be sent by nine o'clock on Saturday evening.
4 月 14 日（週日）上午 8:00——於燈塔旁停車場集合
我們十一點結束，之後在海灘小屋供應熱湯。請自備杯子。
若預報有大雨，活動順延至下個週日。我們會在週六晚上九點前發出通知。
Dear Mr. Yeh,
On behalf of everyone at the Riverside Reading Club, thank you for the forty books you sent last week.
We have kept twenty-eight of them for our own shelves. The rest are picture books for very young children, so we have passed them to the hospital play room; we thought you would rather see them used than stored.
May I ask one more favor? Several of our helpers would love to hear how you built up such a collection. Would you consider giving a short talk one Thursday evening in June?
With thanks,
Amy Ko
葉先生您好：
謹代表河濱閱讀社全體成員，感謝您上週寄來的四十本書。
其中二十八本我們留在自己的書架上。其餘是給幼兒看的圖畫書，我們已經轉送給醫院的遊戲室；我們想您應該寧願看到它們被使用，而不是被收起來。
可以再請您幫個忙嗎？我們有幾位志工很想聽聽您是如何累積出這樣一批藏書的。您願意在六月的某個週四晚上做一場短講嗎？
謹此致謝
柯艾咪
Hours given by volunteers in four programs last year.
| Program | Volunteers | Total hours |
|---|---|---|
| Meal delivery | 34 | 2,720 |
| Reading to children | 52 | 1,560 |
| Garden care | 18 | 900 |
| Office help | 9 | 1,080 |
Meal delivery runs every day of the year; the other three programs stop during August.
去年四項服務方案的志工投入時數。
| 方案 | 志工人數 | 總時數 |
|---|---|---|
| 送餐 | 34 | 2,720 |
| 為兒童朗讀 | 52 | 1,560 |
| 庭園照顧 | 18 | 900 |
| 辦公室協助 | 9 | 1,080 |
送餐服務全年無休；其餘三項方案在八月停止。