Do You Volunteer?

[Susie Q Roo]

I just read an article about the volunteer rate in the states falling.

It's kind of tough to volunteer down here, but I have a few times, for the Angel Notion Christmas Trees, the Mayakoba golf tourney, and others.

When I lived in the US, in addition to some other opportunities, I really enjoyed being a mentor for a grade-school girl as she went from grades 3-6. SO much brighter than the others her age, with very different interests than the other little girls, and from a kind of warped family situation. She soaked up the attention like a sponge and I know I gained as much from it as she did, if not much more. I miss that.

So, do you volunteer? Or have economic and time priorities cut out extras like that for you?

[MikeW]

Work 45 - 60 hours per week.
Volunteer at least 7 hours per week.

[Kellyk]

I love volunteering. I've done less lately than I'd like to because of time constraints...I'm working 60+ hours a week lately and just started 2 study programs.

I joined a group called "Random Acts" through Meetup.com. Anyone can organize an event and they do all sorts of things from Habitat for Humanity to bingo at nursing homes and sandwich making for local church soup kitchens. It's nice because there's always something going on most days of the week.

I also have a huge place in my heart for food banks. After working that makeshift food bank after hurricane Katrina and talking with the people in the shelter I decided to take in donations for the North Texas Food Bank at my studio. Bring in 5 cans and get $5.00 off your service and that will go on indefinitly...in case anyone in the area wants to drop some things off!!

I would love to work more closely with individuals but with my schedule I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up the commitment so this kind of volunteering works well for me.

[roni]

Yes, I do.

[Heather]

Nearly every chance I get.

[MaripositaII]

We volunteer as family but it depends on everyone's schedule how much we do.

My son volunteers at a nursing home and senior day centre, and the old folks love him. My daughter volunteers at a cat shelter (Nerak would love her), and we signed up recently to go through the CERT (Community emergency response team) programme (completed training yesterday!) which apparently will open up other volunteer possibilities for us. I sent in my application for DVIS (domestic violence intervention services) because I keep reading and hearing these very distressing stories, and they need bilingual and other help. I interpret for those parents who can't speak English during Parent/Teacher conferences. Wish we could do more. One thing I have to point out is that I work part-time and this gives me more opportunities to volunteer. I admire you folks who work so many hours and still do your part


Kelly, that's a great idea you have there.

[Rissask]

Not nearly as much as we should. I canvass for the Canadian Cancer Society every fall (which I hate doing but can't seem to get out of (guilt)- I don't like bothering people in their homes ) and regularly sit at local election polling stations, and go out and help with the Habitat for Humanity builds, but that is it, and it isn't much. I would love to volunteer at our local SPCA like a friend does, but I just cannot handle seeing the animals' sad eyes.

[BonnyW]

Originally Posted by MikeW

Work 45 - 60 hours per week.
Volunteer at least 7 hours per week.

That doesn't include all the preparation time, arranging transportation, meetings, phone calls, etc...The number above is your direct contribution. I would guess that it is closer to 20 hours per week counting all those other things you do

Yes, I volunteer too...for some of the same organizations that MikeW volunteers for, but others as well. This summer it is an average of about 20 hours per week.

[maestranba]

Quite a bit. I'm a member of our local Woman's Club, which is a service organization. We do a lot with the senior citizens and used to visit a juvenile detention facility to do crafts and cooking with the teens until it closed last Spring.

Also, my school does a lot of CS activities. We do a community roundup before the holidays which we all get involved with, and last year we did a school-wide project with Americares.

I'm advisor to the Student Council as well, so we run a blood drive every year along with several other fund-raisers as needed.

I never really thought about how much volunteer work I do until you brought up this thread...thanks Susie!

[jx2]

No time for that at this point in our lives. Working 104 hours a week right now. Whoever thinks owning their own business is a easy thing, may want to reconsider. Hopefully this wont be for too long.

[bedeaway]

I've volunteered for the Special Olympics - that is such a extremely rewarding experience. I used to be a "Sunshine Girl" at the local retirement home, just spending time with the elderly who are so starved for some attention.

I also help organize a diabetes walk for the cure each year - my daughter is diabetic - so that's more of a selfish "giving".

Susie - you didn't mention all that you did for the people after the hurricane last year. You (and others) were angels to those people.

[Susie Q Roo]

Originally Posted by bedeaway

I've volunteered for the Special Olympics - that is such a extremely rewarding experience. I used to be a "Sunshine Girl" at the local retirement home, just spending time with the elderly who are so starved for some attention.

I also help organize a diabetes walk for the cure each year - my daughter is diabetic - so that's more of a selfish "giving".

Susie - you didn't mention all that you did for the people after the hurricane last year. You (and others) were angels to those people.

Thank you, but what little I did pales in comparison to what others were doing. I felt bad that I couldn't/didn't do more. I have hugged a few shelter pups a time or two though.

[Bumper]

Not as much as I used to, but about as much as I can. I have some reasonably recent physical restrictions that have forced me to seriously cut back. About the only thing I do regularly is narrate and produce books one day a week for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Since we both retired 5 years ago, we've had plenty of time to give, so we did. We both used to volunteer a day a week working in the warehouse at a major central food bank. Jackie still does that. We were ushers for a not-for-profit professional theatre, which she can still do. We've just completed two weeks working at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. We deliver poinsettias every year for a few days at Christmas for Hospice & Palliative Care, and work at their walkathon. We've sold plants for the Variety Club. We were both scorekeepers for a Special Olympics bowling league. We were drivers for the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, and bartenders at the provincial Men's Curling Championships. Mrs. B is also a member of the Friends of the Conservatory and works at their annual sales, and with other horticultural stuff. We were block captains for Neighbourhood Watch for a while too. I was a member of Jaycees for many years and got involved in a bunch of things that way as well, like organizing an annual community festival, running parades, beer gardens and casinos, and Winnipeg's Santa Claus Parade. Have and had a lot of good times, and met a lot of terrific committed people.

[roni]

Originally Posted by jx2

No time for that at this point in our lives. Working 104 hours a week right now. Whoever thinks owning their own business is a easy thing, may want to reconsider. Hopefully this wont be for too long.

So, you're working your own business and still doing the day job?

[STOGEY]

30 years ago I joined a group that was anti volunteering it was the the Navy it was called Never again volunteer yourself, USN for short.