Volunteering

A few months back, when I accepted the fact that Joe would be moving out and I would have A LOT more time on my hands since I wouldn't have the kids all the time anymore, I was looking for something that I could do to help fill the time.  Volunteering was the first thing I thought of.  The truth is, I had a desire for A LONG time before this that I was kind of unfulfilled somehow.  I always kind of blew it off with thoughts of "I'm too busy for that", "I don't have time to do that".  I kind of felt that I was too wrapped up in my own little world, in the monotonous routine of my own little life.  Never really branching out of my comfort zone.  That there was so much more out there in the world that I wasn't experiencing.  Although I had wanted to be doing more to give back, I was definitely too lazy to actually take action.  I have used Joe's moving out as an excuse to finally get out there and do things for my community and start experiencing new things and possibly meet some new people.

So I signed up through a local organization that coordinates volunteer events for all different kinds of organizations in my county.  I just go to their website, look at the calendar and pick something that I think interests me.  There are all different kinds of volunteering opportunities available.  For instance, I can volunteer at a local horse ranch that works with disabled children.  The description says "help clean stables".  Hmmm, no, thanks.  I don't like horses all that much to be shoveling up their crap.  There are "1 day" volunteer opportunities available, like volunteering at a homeless shelter or some some kind of county event like a charity walk/race or whatever.  Then there are long term opportunities, like actually working with a family who has a disabled child and you would be working in their home with whatever kind of help they need (cooking, cleaning, playing with other children in the home, etc.).  This kind of volunteering requires a certain number of days a week and a certain number of hours that are required of you.  It just depends on what kind of time you have and what your comfort level is.  I'm not quite at a point where I would want to work inside someones home and actually become part of their family.  But putting in 3 hours on a Saturday morning is perfectly fine with me.  I have vowed to volunteer at least ONE weekend a month, for a few hours, and so far I have done that.

So the first event I did was for a local fair that was taking place at a horse stable to benefit the disabled children that the stable worked with.  I ended up being assigned the job of checking in all the volunteers that showed up.  Big whoop.  It wasn't exactly the kind of impact I was looking for.  I decided that I wanted opportunities that were a little more hands on.  The only good thing that came out of this event is that the girl I got paired up with to check in the volunteers was super cool and we are friends to this day.  So that was cool.

So this past weekend I signed up for an opportunity to volunteer at a local homeless rehabilitation center.  The description said something along the lines of "sorting new donations" and "organizing the warehouse".  Pretty boring stuff.  However, when we got there, they were looking for some people to volunteer in the kitchen.  "That's me!" I thought.  So we started out just prepping some food trays then they offered to let us actually serve the food for the lunch shift.  I was a little nervous, "OMG, actual homeless people".  I didn't really know what to expect.  So all these people start coming in for lunch.  They were young, old, able bodied, disabled, men, women, children.  All walks.  All shapes.  All sizes.  And they looked just like you and me.  I couldn't help but wonder about a lot of them "how did they end up here?"  "Could I ever end up here?"  Hours before, I was debating the life changing decision of the Nook or the Kindle and now here I was serving a homeless pregnant woman a sandwich (I tried to find the biggest one for her, lol).  Makes me feel selfish and self centered.  I stress about having enough money to take my kids on a "well deserved" vacation.  These people don't have enough money to buy themselves a "well deserved" pair of shoes.  It's quite humbling.

I think my dream volunteer job would be to work in a NICU unit and help take care of all those sick little babies.  Feed them bottles, rub their back in their incubators, change teeny weeny diapers.  It would be like always having a baby but never having to raise another one.

Go Here to donate your time or pay it forward on 9/11.  You will make a difference in someones life.  Somewhere, somehow.