A few months ago, I wrote a post lamenting the fact that I was so busy, I didn’t have time to help anyone. Sure, I was volunteering—I was chairing a committee and sitting on an advisory board at a local nonprofit—but I was so overextended that I wasn’t serving anyone (including myself) very well.
So, I did something really hard. After three years of volunteering for the same organization, I cut myself free of any formal role. I felt guilty about stepping down, but I knew that it was the right decision.
So far, I’ve found that giving back in other ways is equally gratifying. I absolutely applaud everyone who serves worthy organizations in formal, ongoing roles, but for me, having more flexibility has been great. Josh and I are lucky to be part of a wonderful group of friends, formerly “Picnic League,” now “Volunteer League,” that meets once a month to do volunteer projects.
In 2010, the group did a wide range of projects, from planting and harvesting potatoes for a food bank to raking leaves for a family affected by cancer. Here are some pictures (thanks, K & K !) from our December gathering, where we made holiday goodie boxes for Meals on Wheels clients. Even the kids got into the act by decorating cards.
The beauty of such a group is that even if not everyone makes it—and I only made it about half of the time this year—a critical mass can do a lot in just a couple of hours. The coolest part is that our kids see their parents volunteering together, not just drinking beer (though most of us do some of that, too).
In recent weeks, several other informal opportunities to give back have presented themselves to me, and it feels good to be able to step up. I’m not talking about saving whales here; I’m talking about simple acts like sending meals to a family member recovering from surgery.
I’m not writing this post to collect any “yay for you” comments (not allowed!). Rather, I want to encourage us (myself included) to think creatively about how to contribute in 2011. We all have talents, goods, and (sometimes) time that could serve others. Giving back doesn’t have to be huge, it doesn’t have to be glamorous, and it doesn’t have to involve money.
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I Want to Know:
Do you have any tips for giving back without overextending yourself?
When was the last time you benefited from someone going above and beyond?
Who or what has taught you the most about giving back?
Do you have any fun ideas for volunteer projects that are appropriate for young kids?
Right before I had Holden, my friends made me many meals that I could reheat when I was too busy dealing with a small baby and an 18-month-old. I was so grateful! My fav? The individual frozen chocolate chip balls and I could either pop one in my mouth or pop one in the oven. So delicious!
I have learned how many wonderful organizations there are. I’ve learned certain ways people suffer. For example, did you know that if a boy is 12 and over in a homeless shelter with his mom, they’re not allowed to be together? There are very few shelters that allow the families to stay together. Those shelters are critically important to the families affected by this.
Yes, making meals for new moms and dads is a wonderful gift! We were lucky to receive several! A friend-of-a-friend recently set up a schedule for some new parents using a Google doc. What a great way to get people involved and let them sign up for a date that works for them!
You’re lucky that you get to be involved with so many great nonprofits through your work! It’s eye-opening, I’m sure (like the point you make here about kids in shelters).
I love to volunteer and give my time to worthwhile causes – but, I am terrified of ‘committing’ and letting people down.
I find tons of wonderful ways to give back, ways that involve my pre-k kiddos…
Last year we made ‘cards for cancer’ where we made & collected cards for cancer patients & sent them out. Imagine my surprise when just a few months after that, I found myself on the receiving end when my own mother battled & lost a 7 week battle with the beast herself.
I also like to donate $7 on the 7th of the month to the Liz Logelin Foundation – It’s one lunch out on my end – but totaled up with others doing the same thing – we are really making a difference in the lives of young widows & widowers.
I have the same fear of letting people down! I’m trying to be much more cautious about what I commit to, especially now that I’m a mom. It’s so cool that you’re involved in the Liz Logelin Foundation (http://thelizlogelinfoundation.org/). I think it’s great how grassroots it is–seems like there’s little red tape involved in getting resources to families in need quickly. Thanks for the good “cards for cancer” idea, too!
How timely to come home from a benefit for a cancer patient and find your post. It seemed the least I could do for the friend of a friend.
I was always a huge volunteer, political, social, child health, affordable housing, food shelf, schools, you name it. But when my life fell apart, I did also. I let most of the volunteer stuff fall by the wayside as depression took over. The crazy part is knowing that volunteer work HELPS depression. Looking outside of self brings perspective.
Someone told me recently that the time I give to my parents is my volunteer work, but I would like to do something else, too. Just not sure exactly what.
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Volunteering can most definitely help with depression! I hope you find some new meaningful areas in which to share your positive energy!
I don’t care if you don’t want applause. I like that you and your friends think about others in this kind of way. I like that you think about how to pass the spirit down to your kids. I just like it.
I, however, do not have any great idea and will just sit back and take notes on this one.
One thing I did do with my siblings this year that we liked is pooling money together instead of doing a gift exchange. Each contributing member gets to nominate/present a charity that should get the money. Decision is made survivor style. Love how it moves us away from “things” and also reduces holiday stress.
I love your holiday gift idea! That is so cool. My sibings and I don’t do gifts anymore, either, except for a little $20 gift exchange. In the past, we’ve also collected items off of wishlists for local nonprofits (for example, the Twin Cities Ronald McDonald House has a wish list on its website: http://www.rmhtwincities.org/pdf/Wish-List.pdf).
Find a hero and then watch her. Then, if there is something she is doing that you could, jump in. Emma knows who this was for me and she’s at least part of the reason anyone in our immediate family does things. For her, ANYthing you c/would do was awesome and so, it made it easy to do something more often.
A thing we can all think about is how we can make it easy and fun for others to try.
Agree, agree! I really like your point about trying to make it easy and fun for others to jump in.
We’ve looked for volunteer opportunities we can do with our kids, but not with much luck. We’ve done the cards (and fleece blankets) for Meals on Wheels, and the 6-year-olds in the neighborhood loved it. My daughter and I also had a GREAT time at Feed My Starving Children. As I understand it, you can just drop in anytime and help. She’s 6 and was at a “station” with a bunch of adults, and she was SO proud of doing her share. She still can’t comprehend that there are people in the world without food (“why don’t they just go to the grocery store? Why don’t the workers build them a grocery store?”), but she’s starting to understand that we’re ridiculously lucky.
I also like to “secretly” pay for people. Like a mom with two small kids getting her oil changed at the same time I was–it was Christmas time, and she looked so sad and defeated. They went to the bathroom, and I asked the attendant if I could pay for her oil change, too. Then I left before she found out, and I felt good about it for days. Well, when I wasn’t thinking, “I wonder if the attendant took my money and charged her anyways?” But there’s no need for skepticism, right?
I love your Volunteer League, too! That’s awesome!
I can’t wait until our kiddo is old enough to do Feed My Starving Children! It seems like a great activity for kids. Actually, our Volunteer League is going there later this month. (http://www.fmsc.org/)
I love your idea of secretly paying for people once in a while. Someone recently did that for me at the Caribou Coffee drive-thru, and I was really touched!
I’ve had that done a couple of times for me at Caribou/Starbucks. There’s some guy by our local Starbucks who gives them $50 once a week to pay for the people behind him in line. How nice is that? I still need to pay it forward because I didn’t the last time someone bought my drink.
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I’ve served on non-profit boards before but right now just can’t commit the time on a regular basis so I look for other projects that I can work around my other commitments.
A friend of mine is helping to produce a coffee table book about people who are homeless. The book will be available to non-profits to sell as part of their fund-raising efforts. I volunteered to do one of the interviews and spent an hour chatting to a gentleman who’s been homeless for about seven years. The most interesting part of our conversation was how important God is to him now and how that is helping him to be less violent. My job this weekend is to finish writing his profile.
Hopefully the book will get published and it will raise money but I still gain by talking to someone I wouldn’t otherwise come in contact with.
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Wow–the book project sounds awesome! It’s great when you can use your specific talents to help others, and it sounds like your interview was really interesting. I hope the book gets published!