July is National Ice Cream Month. Mmmmm, this is good to know! And, Baskin-Robbins is partnering with DoSomething.org on a summer campaign called, "I Serve, You Serve" to encourage teens to get involved in their communities.
Teens who sign up to volunteer through DoSomething.org/Serve will get a coupon for a free vanilla soft-serve cone from July 13-17. The campaign slogan is "Get something good for doing something good." Okay, kids get an allowance for doing chores. Now we have to reward them for volunteering, for an act of kindness. Come'on! I am not thinking kids are going to volunteer for an ice cream cone. The campaign name is cute but appears short on being compelling.
The act of rewarding kids for volunteerism beyond the thank you and gratitude they should feel for helping out someone is not necessary. What kind of message does this send? The whole idea of volunteering is to give back and help out without there being a bargaining chip. If we are going to engage kids in community service through schools and teach them the value of volunteerism then it strikes me that we all have a part in sharing the same message and enticing them with ice cream to volunteer doesn't quite align with that message.
