Charity work and volunteering...

[big brown horse]

This began as a thank you to meandthegals, but her pm box was full.


I wanted to tell you that I totally admire anyone who volunteers for what ever reason, soup kitchens, community centers, nursing homes etc.

Since I was a child my mother took me to volunteer at the Gov. cheese hand outs and local soup kitchens. (Our Thanksgiving tradition was to help feed the hungry.)

As an adult, (even when I had not even two pennies to scrape together) I kept up that tradition. I worked with a friend's company that went monthly to state run nursing homes to play "big bucks bingo", and also we donated tons of items in need throughout the year.

I always brought my daughter to help too. At a local community center in a severly depressed part of town, we prepared bags of groceries, organized the food pantry's shelves of donated food. We even helped in the community garden...all the food went to the food bank.

When Houston opened its doors to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, we prepared "hygiene kits" for those staying at the Astrodome etc.

Anyway, I think it brings life into perspective and makes you a better human being.

Keep up the good work to those who care enough to think about others in need.

Care to share your story of "heart work"?

 

[jessejames]

volunteering has always been a large part of my life, or should i say community service. though at the moment i am doing nothing of the sort.
one of the first projects i worked on was in kingston where i grew up on and off and around in my late teens early twentys my not yet bro in law and i started yellow bike action (it still exists check it out on facebook) which we started with a 20 000$ grant and then we got a park building donated by the city for 5 years plus option on for 5 twice more at a dollar a year. it was loosely based on the whote bikes of amsterdam but in our system you bought a universal key for 5$ and could pick up bikes at certain locations around town but if not at a hub you had to leave because it was in use. we also had a bike shop where you could fix up your own bike for free buy used parts from our collection of 1000s of bikes or build your own bike for cheap. i think they have changed up the structure of it a bit but it is still going strong after more than 10 years now.
also food has always been a huge thing for me and i have worked many soup kitchens and almost every xmas i make sure i do. i also have started a few chapters of food not bombs where we make vegetarion food from donations and dumpster diving and set up in poor neighborhoods and give food and info away. around the same time i started YBA i also start rising heights a soup kitchen in "the heights" the poor part of kingston we also offered tutoring and help with applications, forms, resumes, etc. we also would have a Q and A most nights (we only did once a week) with lawyers, nurses, etc... this program ended up changing names and being the base for what became the north kingston community health center.
so yes i strongly believe in community service
oh ya i also took 1 year off of working and volunteered at dufferin grove park in toronto (check their website too!) where i built one wood burning bread oven cooked alot of suppers in it and another that was already there and baked thousands of loaves of bread in them for the all organic market at that park and for two other markets that i helped start one in parkdale and the other in liberty village. both of these new markets are flourishing and dufferin grove still is as it has for a long time.
ideally i would love to be able to spend at least a third of my time on these altruistic projects. it seems that i cant seem to find it right now though. something i have been thinking about doing is hosting a educational movie night once a month or something showing movies like food or the derveas movie etc. i think this would be a good way for me to meet like minded folks in the area because i know no one. next year i am also thinking of hosting a workshop series, something i have done before. workshop the building of my new bread oven, a smokehouse, ciderpress, etc. these would be money making ventures.
i always seem to forget about all that i have done sometimes. it seems more impresive than it is all written down. its not like i went out of my way to do these things they just evolved naturally out of my lifestyle.
ciao

 

[big brown horse]

WOW!! JJ, you have just encouraged me to get up and do more!! Now that is some serious community service!! Love it!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Great job jesse! You too BBH! Its great that so many opportunities to help others have passed into your hands.
It always makes me feel wierd to talk about any "good deeds" I do. I prefer to hide in the background and let my good deed be recognised by the gladness of the people who receive it. It feels like watching your kids open really awesome presents from you when they think you aren't there.
But... at the same time, if we don't share how we help our fellow man, maybe an opportunity will slip by us unnoticed.
I volunteer at the Interfaith Ministry's community food pantry. serving, cooking & talking with the people who come in for help. I dedicated a full 150' row of my garden to the pantry. Its part of Plant a Row for the hungry. Not that it counted for much with my dismal harvest.
My extended family as a group has started to adopt families through our Salvation Army, on the suggestion of my cousin & I. Presents, food, clothing, etc are given to the family in need without them knowing who actually gave.
For the past 4 years, I've been a twice weekly bell-ringer for the Salvation Army during the holiday season, I shop there & donate there as well.
My company is a shipping center for Cellphones for Soldiers thanks to a small notice I had printed up & posted on the bulletin board.
I've bought washing machines for people & had them secretly delivered. I've bought staple groceries & left them on door steps.
I've taken in untold numbers of "strays" or "street rats" as they call themselves in New Orleans for a hot meal, shower & clean bed. I've helped any number of friends get back on their feet or given them a place to live until they could find somewhere. Whether they could help with bills or not.
I buy school supplies when I can and give them to the Jr. Auxilary or the teachers for needy kids. DH & I take the kids at least once a month to the adult day care center & nursing homes. There are many people there who just want to see any friendly kids or get read cheesey storybooks or play checkers. The kids always have a ball and they love seeing their friends.
I do pick up hitch-hikers, but only if I don't get the creepy "They're a serial killer" vibe and I don't have my children with me. The main exception is Jeff Streeter, the Window Man who works for Jesus. He's a vagrant preacher who works his way across the country. If you see an older guy with a bucket hiking down the interstate, stop & grab him. Jeff is the bomb. He gets to come to my home and enjoy a cooked meal, shower, & clean bed any time he is in my area. We keep a glass vase in the car, all our dimes go in the jar. When its full, we cash it in and keep it for Jeff.

 

[big brown horse]

Awesome Noobie!!

I feel the same way about "saying" that I volunteer, I usually don't say anything...I'm not doing it for recognition as I know you guys aren't either.

I just thought if we talk about it here (in an anonymous setting), we might be able to encourage each other.

You and JesseJames have already given me more ideas on how to reach out to the community, thank you!!

 

[Wifezilla]

My experiences with volunteering and charity have been very mixed....

Donated clothes to a place that helps women reenter the work force look professional. I had a big box of dressier clothing in great shape. Attendants acted annoyed that I had interrupted them.

Was able to donate a large amount of good food near Christmas to a woman's shelter and they were very appreciative. The next year when I tried to contact them for another batch, I was told by some office snit they no longer accepted "in kind" donations. I had no idea what the heck that meant. Well, they only wanted CASH. Guess what? I DIDN'T HAVE ANY, but I did have several hundred pounds of really good food. Gave that to a shelter instead.

Took an entire truck load of baked goods to a shelter and couldn't find anyone in charge for quite a while. After I finally did, he acted annoyed I was interrupting (what is it with these people??). Then none of the people milling around even offered to help unload so I did it myself. While pregnant. In the rain. Never gave them another single thing.

Now I take all my stuff to a local church despite not being a religious person at all. This place is appreciative, helpful, friendly and really does a lot of good in the community.

 

[kathyschix]

This was my first year working with this group:

Flashes of Hope

...and my modest contribution:

My FOH blog post

It was so HOT the morning we did the sessions. The kids were great!

Regards,

Kathy

 

[freemotion]

Beautiful!!!! So generous of you to use your obvious talent in such a kind and lovely way. Choked me up.....

 

[SimplyForties]

Before I moved to Va. last month I volunteered every week at my local library, walked dogs and cleaned at the humane society and was a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for children in the foster care system. Not only is volunteering rewarding, it's a great way to meet people!

Now that I'm in a new place I need that second part! I've signed up at the local library and need to go find the humane society.

 

[freemotion]

DH and I do a variety of charity work and volunteering. Lots through our local congregation, and I like to see a need in an individual and fill it. We also invite people that we know who devote their lives to helping others to get a free massage on occasion.

My most amazing experience, though, was volunteering at Ground Zero in lower Manhatten in 2001 through the AMTA's MERT (American Massage Therapy Association's Massage Emergency Response Team). We were there to support the rescue workers and the other support teams. We worked on FDNY, NYPD, FBI, Secret Service, Red Cross volunteers, National Guard, truck drivers and large machinery operators, you name them, we worked on them.

We were up close and personal with "The Pile" and had to rinse our shoes and wash our hands before entering "The Oasis," the respite center set up by the Red Cross in a building owned by St John's University. We all coughed for WEEKS afterwards. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I hope I never get the opportunity.

I also learned about CISD, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. Whew.