volunteering

[mutepointe]

Sometimes we mention volunteering in other threads. Do you volunteer your time and services? Do you do this through an agency, a group, or independently? Do you have any family traditions of volunteering? Do you have any great or not so great stories about volunteering? Why do you volunteer?

[dwinterfield]

I've been active in town government for about 14 years, first on the Conservation Commission, now on the Finance Committee. All volunteer. Probably 250-300 hours a year for the Finance Committee condensed into meetings 2-3 nights a week for several months before Town meeting.

[Jack]

I used to volunteer cleaning a church, but once I started to become familiar with Objectivism, Ayn Rand, and Nathaniel Branden, I stopped because I came to think that most volunteering as I had encountered it was evil and required an unhealthy kind of self-sacrifice. Now I no longer clean that church.

[Denny]

I volunteered Dale for somethin' a while back.....


didn't work out

[cowtime]

I volunteered Dale for somethin' a while back.....


didn't work out

[BillChin]

I've volunteered lots of places including:

The local job center where I helped folks with resumes, job search, and conducted practice interviews. I did this for two years, but no longer do it.

My local church where I've done all sorts of things, such as putting out a monthly newsletter, setting up tables and chairs, cleaning up, taking money at the door for events. Still do some.

For Recovery International, a self-help group for depression and anxiety headquartered in Chicago. I lead a group, conduct training seminars, have written reports and minutes, also served on one of the national committees. Still do some.

None of this is through the government. The local government run volunteer center now only does community service court sentences.

Today's "good deed" was telling someone at the coffee shop that the traffic cop was coming in a few minutes and that they should not park there. Saved that guy a ticket and he was very grateful.

Too many folks into the "people suck" category from the recent thread, and while I may fall into that mood once in a while, it is a lot less than I used to.

As to why, the layman's explanation would be karma. What comes around goes around. What you put in, you'll get out. There is also the long standing religious tradition of giving 10% of your money, 10% of your time. Stop me before I fill the screen with more cliches

[Walden]

As to why, the layman's explanation would be karma. What comes around goes around. What you put in, you'll get out.

In Christian terms, "as a man soweth, so shall he reap."

[Innocent Bystander]

I used to be Sound man for our local Talking Newspaper.
Talking Newspapers are organisations that send out local news and information on cassettes for the benefit of Blind and Partially-sighted people. An example of useful information is the lighting-up times - so Blind people know when to draw their curtains.

Wycombe Talking Newspaper used to peak at around 200 local recipients. It couldn't be done without the assistance of the Royal Mail, which carries letters and parcels for the Blind free of charge. There is an umbrellla organisation of all the Talking Newspapers in the UK called TNAUK (or "tanauk").

There were (still are, I assume) four teams on a rota. On Thursday the local newspaper is printed and the Editor picks up a couple of copies. On Friday the editor sorts out appropriate articles and glues them onto eight small sheets of board, with a few spares of smaller articles.

On Friday night the reading teams arrive at the studio. Each team has four people and a sound man. Each reader gets two cards, and reads once on each side of the tape. The sound man ensures that the quality of the master tape is good. The sound man also has to make sure that there is a minute of music at the end of side one and the beginning of side two. This is to allow for variation in length in the copying tapes. Sometimes there is as much as a minute's variation in length between the tapes, and the music is missed off entirely. The sound man also make sure that fluffs, coughs and fits of the giggles are erased and re-recorded properly.
We used to gather at half-past seven and finish at about ten o'clock - which is not bad going for both sides of a ninety-minute tape.

Also on a Friday Night, the returned tapes are delivered to the studio and separated from their wallets - these are reusable plastic wallets with an insert card with the recipients address on one side, our return address on the other, and a snip out of one corner so you can tell which address is which, if you are blind.

On Saturday Morning, the copiers come in at about nine o'clock. These are again teams of four people. They use commercial tape-copiers which copy both sides of a ninety-minute tape in three minutes. The tapes have to be wiped first. We use two tape-wipers, which are little more than very strong electromagnets. The tapes get sorted back in their wallets, and delivered to the Royal Mail by noon on Saturday. The recipients can expect to get the tape on Monday morning, and need to return it on Thursday, or earlier.

I did this for fifteen years. I had to stop because work were sending me to a site a hundred miles away on Fridays, and I couldn't get back in time.

[djm]

I used to volunteer about 10-20 hours per week for about fifteen years, acting in various capacities, from finance to board of exectutives to cleaning toilets. I just got tired of it all. I have nothing against the people I helped/worked with, but the unending aspect of it really started to grind. I got out of it and have not missed it. Sometimes I get the urge to get active again, to do something helpful in the community, but I just sit down until that feeling goes away.

djm

[crookedtune]

I have held a voluntary board of directors position with this organization for almost ten years now: www.pinecone.org

I have done spot volunteer work in other capacities, and hope to do a lot more of it when I retire in a few years.

[dwest]

I never volunteer, don't have the time. I get volunteered all the time We were both raised with that concept, she just volunteers me before I have a chance to volunteer.

[susnfx]

Raised as a member of the LDS church, I was a volunteer at a young age. LDS folks work hard--I've taught classes from pre-school age to adults, been a "visiting teacher" (visit 3-4 women in the ward once a month), a stake missionary (working with local full-time missionaries), and on and on. Since I left the church about five years ago my volunteer activities have become almost nil.

I recently moved into a condo and have volunteered to be on one of their homeowners association committees, but nobody's ever called me about it. I volunteered to help at a multiple sclerosis jog-a-thon, but when my daughter and I got there they didn't know what to do with us. They finally had us be cheerleaders at the finish line. We were both quite disappointed as we'd hoped for a more hands-on activity--a real job. I would really like to volunteer at Red Butte Garden, a local arboretum, but I can't stand for longer than 5-10 minutes or kneel at all, so it's pretty much out of the question.

Susan

[chas]

I have really excellent blood, so I give that, sometimes every eight weeks, lately less often. The Red Cross has made it increasingly difficult.

I've volunteered at my daughter's school. They've made it clear, though, that parents' efforts are wanted very seldom. It's part of a pervasive attitude, so we're home schooling beginning week after next. That will be most of my volunteer activities at that point.

[dwest]

I have really excellent blood, so I give that, sometimes every eight weeks, lately less often. The Red Cross has made it increasingly difficult.

I give every two months except when I'm full of isotopes but they still call twice a day during the week. But I own them big time.

[cowtime]

I play the organ at my church. I didn't want to do it-at the time I was not all that familiar with the service music, order of service,etc, lots of responsibility and time involved- but I felt compelled to offer when they needed someone. Until I volunteered, this was always a paid position so they were amazed when I refused payment. I figured I enjoy what musical abilities I have way too much to not give back in some way. Plus, playing the organ is really a lot of fun!