Thoughts for Thursday: Volunteer Work

My topic for TFT this week is on volunteer work.  This topic popped into my mind after reading about a humbling experience that my dear blogging buddy Adrienne wrote about a few days ago.  She lives in Alabama and spent an entire day volunteering for the Red Cross at one of the Hurricane Gustav shelters for evacuees.  One of the most valuable things about her experience was that she was able to bring her three children along so that they could help out.  They experience was invaluable to them, as it helped them to realize not to take anything for granted, and also made them feel special and proud for helping out.

Volunteering....its something I haven't done with my time in many years.  In fact, I haven't even thought about it in quite some time.  I could make a million excuses as to how I am too busy, etc, etc, etc.  In the past I used to volunteer several hours a month at a battered women's shelter (doing activities with the kids), and also in a school for students with developmental disabilities.  It felt great and is indeed humbling.  Makes me think i should try to volunteer more of my time to a worthwhile cause, maybe the Big Sister/Little Sister program or something??!!

Anyway, I would love to hear some goodness today.  Please tell me about any volunteer experiences you have had and how you felt about it. 

PS. If you haven't ever  volunteered anywhere, I highly suggest it at some point in your life when you can afford to spare some time.  Schools especially love volunteers :)

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Other TFT posts this week:

Dana Leigh on meeting Famous People

Jenny P on One More Day

Michelle on Sarah Palin (Republican VP Candidate)

Comments

[Dana Leigh]

I haven't spent much time volunteering as you have described above but I feel like I do my part to "give back" to society and to make myself feel good. I volunteer in the way of doing charity walks each year for AIDS, Animal Humane Society, MS and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I raise money(through contributors like yourself!) and contribute my own money each year to each of these causes. I also started giving blood on a consistent basis. It's one of those things that doesn't always get the attention it needs but is very important. I had signed up to do some highway clean up projects in the past but they were always cancelled due to rain. I've thought about serving food at one of the shelters for Thanksgiving or Christmas but for whatever reason, I never followed through with it.

[kirsten]

I spent the better part of 15 years volunteering at a weekly soup kitchen. For many years, it was my family (and a few other dedicated souls) that kept it running. That particular soup kitchen started a long time ago, at the time no one in the city was serving meals on Saturdays. The people who came were regulars, mostly, and they came as much for the fellowship as they did for the meal, but there was consistantly a hot meal for them on Saturdays. We moved the soup kitchen 2 different times whent the church it was residing in kicked it out. That particular soup kitchen is still going strong, although I haven't done it in years and years (proabbly 4). I have no excuse as to why I stopped going, but I should probaly start going again.

[Michelle]

I haven't volunteered since college. Bad huh? I really would like to teach my children the value of giving back. They are going to grow up with a lot of things at their fingertips and I want them to be grateful for what they have and understand that they are lucky for what the are given. I think starting young is the best time to, I just need to get motivated and find a good outlet for the kids. Great topic!

[adrienne]

My kids are STILL talking about this!!! We signed up to help with the soup kitchen at our church. They feed homeless families ever two weeks.

[greta adams]

good grief woman....i have to play some serious catch up....

how is school going? has it started?
we started several weeks back...august 7 to be exact.

miss you!! chat soon...

oh and i loved your video and i am so glad you got some pages done..they look freaking awesome!!

my tutorial for noel will be a video if i ever get around to filming it....LOL

{{{{hugs}}}}}

[Samara]

Kristi, this is a great post. It's such a good thing to be reminded of from time to time because most of us are SO fortunate and there are SO MANY wonderful causes out there with people that really need assistance in some form or fashion. I did some volunteering this summer for the first time in years. It was with a food bank called Desert Mission here in Phoenix. They do a lot more than hand a bag of prepacked food to the people that come in. Spending time there was an incredible experience. I haven't been back since my new semester at ASU started back up, but I need to get back there. And I agree, doing something with kids is probably a great idea. Thanks for getting my mind turned back in that direction!