DC Twestival organizers did more than just organize an event to benefit Miriam’s Kitchen for 9/10. We did a morning shift at the kitchen yesterday. Please register today.

We’re coming up on the anniversary of 9/11, now a national day of service. Employers throughout the country are encouraged to let their employees participate.

For me, I still remember watching the plume of smoke above the Pentagon as it burned from my office tower in Tysons Corner. It’s great to see the day is now encouraged as an opportunity to give back, and I’m proud of my employer CRT/tanaka for encouraging the entire staff to participate for a half day.

What’s great about 9/11 is that it gives causes an opportunity to harness goodwill and convert a few more people to regular work. In that sense I love it.

What’s bad is that people may feel like, “Well, I gave my day of service. I’m good for the year.” And that’s the tragedy, because there are so many causes that need support throughout the year.

Authenticity in service really means (at least in my mind) doing more than giving for one day.  While helping others may be the new black, organizations and people need to actually sustain being helpful for it to be authentic and believable.  A true commitment needs to be maintained over time.

That’s why Mashable’s Summer of Social Good meant more than one day of service or  a blog post from one of its competitors.  That’s why DCTwestival organizers did more than just organize an event for 9/10 (a great way to kick of your day of service, please register today). We actually went to Miriam’s Kitchen and served a shift, to see what/how the funds help feed hundreds of homeless people every month.

This is not to dismiss the effort of one day. We all start somewhere. I remember when my old boss Larry Rosenfeld started dragging me to Jewish Federation meetings ten years ago because it was a mitzvah, the right thing to do (looking forward to riding motorcycles soon, Larry!). What started as an ember has become a roaring fire within me.  Not all will become change advocates, but one can hope that a day a year will turn into a day a month.

To Affect Change, One Must Change Within

On a deeper level, I’ve come to believe that there’s more to consider on the topic of authenticity in service. It seems to me that to become an advocate for green causes, a company must in actuality evolve to become more sustainable in its consumption of materials, or as an individual one must live a green lifestyle. 

From a humanitarian standpoint, I recently had the pleasure of helping the monastics of Bat Nha raise more than 5,000 petition signatures on Care2 (petition is still open until tomorrow, please sign). As this was an obvious thing to do it was a pleasure.

At the same time it caused me to step back. Can I truly claim to be humanitarian when I create discord on Twitter, or if I lack peace in my personal life? We all have our character flaws, but this really made me pause and think about mindfulness and change in my life. 

I enjoyed helping the monks, but it helped me more. See, it made me want to be a better person because the greatest humanitarians, the MLKs, the Gandhis of the world, are truly peaceful inside.  I’ll never be MLK or Gandhi, but there’s definitely room for more compassion and mindfulness in my words.

How can you bring more authenticity to your organizational or personal service efforts?