Volunteer
Posted on July 9, 2008
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Ever since I was in high school I have volunteered off-and-on in some capacity for various organizations. I took a break while in college and used that time to study and/or party. After all, you only get one chance to really enjoy being in college!
Before I started the journey to motherhood I donated my time and my money to animal causes. I preferred to help in the front office or with clerical tasks and this worked well because everyone else wanted to be with the animals. I was afraid I’d bring them all home with me if I interacted with the animals, so it was best I was in the office.
Although I still adore animals, my priorities have changed. I now volunteer with two organizations, the March of Dimes and RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. I’ve been touched by both of these organizations personally and probably will continue to give of my time and money to them for the rest of my life.
Today I had a meeting with Diane at the March of Dimes in Arizona. As we were talking it hit me that these organizations DEPEND on volunteers. They have a lot of ideas, a lot of tasks, and not much money. They tend to be short-staffed so much of what they could do isn’t done. How many more lives could they touch if an addition 10 people donated 1 hour of time per week or per month?
I’ve been asked to take on more responsibility as a MOD volunteer and I’m excited about my new role. It will take more of my time, which I’m a little concerned about, but I expect the rewards will far outweigh the time I could have spent doing something else less important.
I encourage you to find a charity that inspires you. Whether it be associated with infertility, babies, animals, or politics. I believe you’ll find that by giving one hour of your time you’ll receive an amazing feeling of giving that will cascade positively into all areas of your life.
If you cannot give of your time, consider resources that allow you to give back while you’re doing what you’re already doing, such as searching the web. Check out www.goodsearch.com (it’s powered by Yahoo). When you search on the web, make sure your favorite charity is listed in the “Who do you Goodsearch for?” and money will be donated to that organization for every search you perform. I know that both the March of Dimes and RESOLVE are supported charities.
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Excellent post!! I think volunteering is soooo important!! And you can’t start teaching the concept of giving back to your kids too early!! Every year at Chanukah Allie knows she has to pick some of her older toys to give away to some other little girl. While I think there are so many organizations that I would love to volunteer at, I find now that Allie is in school that I donate alot of my time to her school and classroom - its amazing the lack of help teachers have and I find it not only enjoyable and rewarding, but soooo necessary!