Are You a Volunteer?

I'm starting work this week as a volunteer befriender at a deaf and special needs school nearby. I'll get back to you!

travelbug, Welcome to a2k. And looking forward to hearing about your volunteering experiences. I hope they're good ones.

Hi travelbug, that sounds cool! Have you already learned sign language?

I've been volunteering pretty much since the day I quit my job a little more than four years ago. There was a brief bridge where I was doing only consulting stuff that I was paid for, but then got involved in some volunteer organizations.

Most of the volunteering I have done thus far has been organizational -- chair of a committee to establish a charter school, that sort of thing. It's been a lifesaver for me during these stay-at-home mom years. I loved my job (director of a social services agency) and need to use my professional braincells or I go batty. I absolutely love when a bunch of individual niggling problems coalesce into a big picture and I figure out a way to organize things in such a way that many niggling problems can be solved in one swell foop.

I also really like working with people, the exchange of ideas, recognizing each other's work (it's as satisfying to praise someone who feels underappreciated but deserves it as it is to receive such praise), and camaraderie. I'm looking now for a deaf organization here to get involved with, as my volunteer activities in Chicago were how I met many of my deaf friends. (As well as nemeses... but I digress... ;-) )

I do a fundraiser ever year at work for the local Children's Cancer Association and I do some "wish" work for them, and for the Ronald McDonald House as well.

You all are wonderful. I'm proud to know you. I'm also proud of my volunteer work over the years.

My parents instilled in me their volunteer ethics. My early memories are of my Mom teaching the H.S. custodian how to read with the Laubach Literacy method. When he got his GDE at the age of 56 he was so proud. He loved my Mom like she was a goddess.

For many years I was a board member and President of our Homeowners Association. There were 109 units and not enough escrow money to maintain the place. I worked hard for many years to bring the Ass. to solvency

More recently I was a member and chairman of an advisory board in our County that helps low-incomes to purchase their first homes.

I also served on a board that maintained a group of disabled people in an apartment complex. It's a sort of halfway house.

My next volunteer program will be a literacy one. I'm waiting for the training schedule.

One day I hope to work with the childrens ad litum program. The group represents children in marital and family cases who otherwise would have no one to assist them.

Wow, that last one sounds fantastic, panzade. (The other stuff too of course, that jumped out though.)

Yeah Soz, I just became aware of the problem children of broken homes have in the court system as they sometimes have no one to represent them . I don't know if the Ad litum program exists elsewhere.

http://www.casanet.org/library/guardian-ad-litem/gal-e-section2.htm

I actually chair a volunteer group at work. Our annual projects - Christmas party at a local city run daycare - we have Santa and gifts and do a project with the kids and read to them. Food drive for Thanksgiving, go to a Senior Apartment Building and paint, plant and give a party. I also head up a "Power Lunch" program where we go to a local elementary school and read to a child during lunch once a week. Other ad hoc programs - support troops by sending care packages, collect cell phones for women victims of abuse, school supplies drive, diaper drive, and clothing drive, help a local zoo by assisting in spring planting and other outdoor work. This is not part of my job responsibilities - I do financial work, just something that I love to do. It makes me appreciate my job and company even more that they support such initiatives. I also feel re-energized after I come back from reading to a first grader. It sort of puts important things in perspective - it also makes dealing with certain crap at work easier to deal with.

I thought you told me about CASA, soz, back when the Little Mo thing was going on. I called them but they couldn't help me until the court got involved. Then, once the court did get involved, things just went click, click, click and I didn't need their help. Still, of all the agencies I called, they were the only ones who even tried to help me.

I've thought about doing some work with them too, panzade. I think my experiences would fit right in with CASA's direction.

There are some great ideas and experiences on this thread, thanks Roberta for starting it.

One of the best ideas I ever heard was a call to make September 11 a national day of voulnteering but nothing ever came of it, imagine that.

I've coached youth soccer, served on the board, and built the club website; taught religion at my parish (grades 8, 9 and 10); and bleed into a bag every eight weeks or so.

Sozobe - No, I've not learned any sign language apart from the British Sign Language alphabet which we used to communicate in lessons in high school! My New Year's Resolution this year was to learn it but I can't find a sensible length course and would rather learn it whilst doing something worthwhile. I hope my gamble pays off! I'm a bit of a language freak though so am hoping I'll find it fairly simple to pick up.

I am on the board of my local community association. I tutor a girl at a vocational high school for students who might fall through the cracks........not kids who have been in trouble, but those who have been left back at least a year.

She is such a great young lady, and I feel that I am making progress with her.

Except for acting as research expert and gadfly for the fringes of Mr. Noddy's family, I don't accomplish much do-gooding these days.

I volunteered for 15 years in an alcoholic selfhelp group, 'guided' 10 years in drug abuser group.

Besides that, I was together with my father unilt his death co-editor of local history magazine (10 issues/year).

Until last year, I was publishing the "Village news" for our local party organisation.

All this is reduced now (I'm caring for my mother and aunt) to some volunteer work in the party.

A graphic designer by profession, I spend much of my day trying to sell or promote things. My senior seminar paper in college explored ways that I could use my skills to give back instead of just using them to get paid.

So whenever I get the chance, I offer my services to nonprofits in need of some design. I have done a few pieces for the United Way of Greater Milwaukee as well as The Aids Resource Center of Wisconsin.

You can see one example of my design here:
http://www.unitedwaymilwaukee.org/whatmatters/communityimpact.html

It is the "A Look at the People and Neighborhoods We Serve" pdf. This was last years version (the new one was just finished and if I may say so myself looks even better). The nice thing about this piece was that becasue of it, the United Way received a large grant from some area business for the printing of this years version.

Roberta, this is a great idea--I love reading about the different ways a2kers volunteer.

My volunteer work has centered mostly around people with developmental disabilities. I have been both an advocate and I have produced video programs that were shown on local public access stations.

The video program won a couple of awards for its service to the community in bringing a better understanding of people with developmental disabilities who live and work in the community.

In each video, the clients would interview each other, talking about their jobs and outside activities.
The local communities became more award of how valuable people with DD can be. One of the major lessons I came away with was that, for the most part, people with DD live far more productive lives than many so-called 'normal' people.

I also volunteered as a tutor at a grammer school for kids that weren't keeping up with the class, but who didn't have the need for a psychologist or Special Ed classes.

That was a tough one, although I loved it. The school was in a poor part of town and a few of the teachers should never have chosen teaching for their career. The children came from broken or violent homes.

With volunteers, these kids have a chance. What they really need is better funding for their schools!!

I'm a dog fanatic. To an extent that I've lost friends over heated debates or simply because I never shut up about them.

My friends try not to bring up the topic unless they want to know EVERYTHING about that breed (I'm an encyclopedia on any breed).

I do volunteer work at my local animal shelter and when I was a teenager, I volunteered at an animal hospital for a year. I'm also a foster mom for certain breeds.

Joahaeyo, good for you. It takes lots of time and caring to be a foster mom for dogs.

Yes I do some things.