You Need to be Here

At Wellspring, volunteers get to experience the adventure, excitement, fun, and love of visiting these regions and helping those in need. The end-goal of that adventure is to help these abandoned children and to potentially leave a lasting impact for those kids and their loved ones. But that is only one part of the volunteer experience at Wellspring. With us, you will get to experience these beautiful landscapes first hand, and as Hoobastank frontman Doug Robb put it, “You need to be here.”

Doug wrote this song after a trip with Wellspring founder Neale Bayly through the Alps in Europe. Neale wrote about the experience for Motorcyclist in an article called Reason to Ride which can be found here. He went on a trip with Doug and Hoobastank’s drummer Chris Hesse through Europe courtesy of BMW Motorcycles. The song was written to Doug’s wife who he believed needed to see the stunning sights for herself. Doug and Hoobastank dedicated the song from their album For(n)ever to Neale and Wellspring’s cause, because the message of the song parallels the volunteers’s experience perfectly. Volunteering at Wellspring is like nothing else and it’s something you need to experience for yourself to see the impact of your support. You need to be here.

I feel the wind rush across my face like an invisible wave crashing over me, I started holding my breath the moment I left wondering what the day was going to bring for me, but there’s no way that I could ever prepare for the scope of it all, for the chill in the air, the cold of the rain, the warmth of the day, I’m never going to be the same…

“You Need to be Here with Me” is the official mantra of the Wellspring experience. Michael Lust, Sally Frank, and Drew Alexander all previously wrote about their personal experiences traveling with Wellspring and how unforgettable of an experience it was for them. Each one of them going on to state that volunteering is a once-in-a-lifetime experience like no other.

I personally haven’t traveled with Wellspring yet, but this song heightens and captures my desire to give up my time for others. I’ve read about all of these incredible experiences in Peru and South Africa and can hardly wait to make experiences of my own. I can’t wait to bask in the beauty of these regions and the love of their people, and I can’t wait to channel that love into support for these children in any way that I can.

We want to thank Hoobastank for allowing us to use this song to potentially capture that desire for others. You can follow the band on Facebook and Twitter if you want to show them some thanks for supporting Wellspring’s message of excitement, love, and adventure.