Volunteering, as many know is one of most noble things we can do to give back to the community.
I feel there is a lot of scope out there to choose from but sometimes people find it overwhelming and hard to decide where and how they can contribute or be a part of a good cause.
Since I have been doing this for such a long time now and I have helped quite a few people get into the spirit of volunteering, I thought I'd shed a little light on how I decided what I wanted to do to give back to the community or how I have helped people choose their calling as far as 'offering help' is concerned.
I believe we all have a passion within us, some like to play sports, some like to read, some travel a lot and a lot others.
I believe we must choose a volunteering activity that is closest to our passion or hobby because that way we never feel forced into it. Even though volunteering is something we choose to do, we may still feel pressured by it at some point. So to avoid that, we need to do things that satisfy our inner passion and at the same time, give us a feeling of serving the community. For instance, I love to meet new people, so I volunteer at the Gleaners Community in downtown Detroit where I go and meet people and work with them to help the underprivileged with food, clothes and even books. This helps me expand my horizons and at the same time gives me the great feeling of doing good for the community.
If someone is interested in sports, they should join a volunteer committee for the specially-abled to help them play sports; if someone likes to read, they can go to a blind school or volunteer at the Assisted living homes and read to the blind kids or older people.
If someone is restricted and unable to travel or move around a lot, they can simply stay at home and do some online volunteering as well. There are volunteer blogs/ articles to write that help people become aware of how and what is going on around them and ways they can help.
I feel it's not about the money, it's about how much time and effort you are willing to put in to give back to your community in some small way.
I only wish to motivate one person every time to get into the spirit of volunteering and hope others can join in! :)
Personally, I like volunteer efforts where you build things and work with your hands, especially ones that help kids. I did a KaBoom! playground build in Detroit once, and that was probably some of the most fun I ever had.
ReplyDeleteAsh - When I was a senior in high school several hundred years ago, I had the opportunity to volunteer at Henry Ford Hospital off the Lodge and Grand Blvd. I was assigned to the children's floor. There was nothing more rewarding for me than to go to the hospital every Wednesday morning and hang out with the kids who were patients. What's cool was that I didn't need to know anything about medicine to make them feel better. All I had to do was show up and and put a smile on their faces by playing with them, or accompanying them to therapy so they didn't need to go alone. Though it was almost 30 years ago now, I still look back at those times very fondly.
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