Here’s this week’s thing:
Before we moved to the West Coast, I used to volunteer a lot. During 2000, I took two of my work days and spent them volunteering full-time. (I worked 3 days a week and volunteered two). I worked at a non-profit book store, I worked with the deaf and helped them find jobs. I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement, and several other organizations. I then quit my job and became a corps member in Teach For America. I got paid but it was still volunteer work to make the world a better place.
I love volunteering. I really, truly do.
However, when we moved west and I couldn’t drive I stopped. Then I had kids and it got worse. And now I don’t volunteer at all. I wanted to fix that this year. I wanted to work regularly with a cause I believed in. And yet, so far I haven’t been able to do that still.
But there is an area where I’ve made some small progress. I became the room parent for my son’s class. I’ve also volunteered in his classroom and art class. I am the photographer for the class so I go to many of the events to make sure there are photos. I am also planning on volunteering with the local education foundation that helps raise money for all the schools in my area.
I also volunteer at work. I create all the posters for all the authors events. This might sound small but it’s a significant contribution to a very valuable and all volunteer-run project.
I still yearn to find ways to volunteer more one on one. Ways that feel more tangible to me. In the meantime, these are the small ways in which I’ve brought in more volunteering into my life.
I will keep seeking more opportunities in this area. But I feel like even if it’s small I have made some progress so I am taking that for now.
Every minute that you volunteer is valuable. Volunteers are worth their weight in gold. Someone once told me that as a result of how much I volunteered, there was a gold chair with gigantic pillows waiting for me in heaven – so that I could finally rest.
Since returning to Montreal, I no longer volunteer. I simply don’t have the time. I wish I did. Every year I promise myself I’m going to work on Literacy Week and every year, when I see how much was raised, I want to scream at myself.
We also have a program called Raising Readers where individuals spend an hour a week tutoring children to help them read better. You would be EXCELLENT for that!
A wonderful benefit of having children is that you meet people you would never have met and do things you would never do without your kids. Being a room mom is part of that. I am a teacher and any time that you are spending in the classroom is treasured and appreciated. Thank you for making your son’s school better. And the photos are going to be treasured for a lifetime by many families. That is no small thing. What you are doing now is important!
thank you for taking the time to leave this comment. i really really appreciate it and it makes me feel so much better. thank you!