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How much volunteer work do you do? (1 Viewer)

T J

Footballguy
I hadn't really done much, but here recently, my 16yr old son had to get 30hrs in as a requirement for a national honor society organization and we've done it as a family. We're spending the day today working on a house for Habitat for Humanity which will complete his 30 hours and the past several Saturday mornings we've passed out food at the local food bank for 4 hours at a time.

Even though his hours are done, I don't think we're going to stop. Very gratifying and certainly needed. How about you folks? Any suggestions for other volunteer opportunities that might be fun/interesting we can do as a family?

 
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That sounds neat. My 16 year old daughter has been in charge of Red Cross blood drives the past 2 and half years (over 80 pints so far!). You could have him sign up as a leader and help him as needed.

She also worked as a teen volunteer at our local hospital, she had to get 60 hours there for service requirements for the high school she started this year as a Junior. Maybe you and your son could also volunteer at a hospital.

 
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quite a bit, especially as my daughter gets older.  trying to impress upon her the importance of lending assistance to those in need, and to be appreciative of what she has in comparison.

and she gets it.  matter of fact, she prods me along now, and mostly makes the suggestions. 

we go out food shopping twice a month for the parish pantry, and volunteer at their soup kitchen every third weekend.  

we donate all of her used toys/clothes/etc to charity - and help out at the parish flea market twice a month.

we also hit the senior center monthly, and she goes with her GS troop every first Sunday to spend a few hours with them. 

this coming week we will shop for school supplies to donate, and will be giving our time next weekend helping to distribute said supplies. 

my gf (her mom) works with the developmentally disabled, and we visit with some of her clients a couple nights a week - also volunteer at a few group homes, as well. 

everything is so much more satisfying and rewarding when i have her along, especially seeing her be so enthusiastic about sharing her time and talents and big heart. 

 
Not surprisingly, we do a lot as a family for our charitable foundation, but another idea if you have teen kids is volunteering at the local retirement home. My son volunteers there and it's been a great experience. Sometimes he helps organize and lead activities, but often he just spends time sitting and talking with the residents. Many of them just love talking to young folks and it's hugely educational for my son. 

 
Volunteer work was part of the requirements of being in NHS and the Beta Club when I was in high school, too.  Making "volunteer" work compulsory really turned me off to it.  I don't do any now.

 
I do regular volunteer work at the local literacy association.  It is a lot of fun, and it is something I believe in.

 
Other than fostering dogs, not much.   I plan to kick it back up once the kids go off to college.  In addition to the animal rescuing, habitat for humanity and soup kitchens are appealing.   Besides helping others, its a convenient way of staying social.   

 
Not enough. (Much of it focused around sports leagues- coaching, working concessions) Oldest is now in NHS, and High School graduation requires it, so will be looking for family oriented ways to do so.

 
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Come from a strong Catholic volunteering tradition. Done it my whole life til i moved up here - care of my ol' peeps (both Volunteers of the Year in every community they've lived where that's recognized - my da statewide once) keeps me close to home these days. Can't say you're alive unless you're actively helping.

Homeless kids, man. There's nothin' with more upside, for you and those you help, than homeless kids. I still get emails & cards from my kids @ Cuidando Los Ninos in Albq and i'm crying now thinking of all the smiles i gave & got.

And politics, By all means, don't forget politics. I started canvassing when i was thirteen. From the ground up is the only way to throw the thieves out da temple of democracy. Find someone with new ideas, energy & commitment and push and support them. That's still how it's done. Or causes, local environmental stuff perhaps. 

At any rate, find something to connect with. I remember backing into a thing of hearing how our guys in Iraq & Afghanistan needed phone cards and talking a few guys at the casino into giving me some for when i brought mine down to VFW. By the end of that year, employees and customers of Sandia Casino had sent 15K in phone cards overseas.

Connect. It's why you're here and often the most rewarding thing you'll do.

 
A ton. Both individually and with the family.

I want to put in a plug for board and committee service. Nonprofits badly need talented individuals to help them with their mission. Reviewing strategic plans, financial statements and grant applications might not have the instant gratification of serving meals but it can make a real difference for the organization.

 
I work for a non profit. Was applying for jobs that would have paid more, but in the end I was tired of working for a bottom line that led to nothing. (in the case of my last employer, it led to bankruptcy)

Now I see happy faces as a result of our hard work. 

 
I see a lot of people that only volunteer when its something they can put on a resume or somehow use it to advance themselves.  Things like helping out at retirement homes or charities or the homeless shelters.  Those are basically the "big 3" that wind up on a resume or application for most people which makes me a bit cynical.  People that rattle those 3 off and nothing else kinda make me skeptical of how big hearted they truly are.   I prefer to hear stories about how you helped people in ways that won't go on a resume later in life. Maybe you just picked up trash on the beach on Saturday morning and no one was around to verify it.  Maybe you spent a day with an individual retiree in his own home (with no references from any sort of staff to use on a resume or application) and helped him or her out a bit.  Something like that.

 
I see a lot of people that only volunteer when its something they can put on a resume or somehow use it to advance themselves.  Things like helping out at retirement homes or charities or the homeless shelters.  Those are basically the "big 3" that wind up on a resume or application for most people which makes me a bit cynical.  People that rattle those 3 off and nothing else kinda make me skeptical of how big hearted they truly are.   I prefer to hear stories about how you helped people in ways that won't go on a resume later in life. Maybe you just picked up trash on the beach on Saturday morning and no one was around to verify it.  Maybe you spent a day with an individual retiree in his own home (with no references from any sort of staff to use on a resume or application) and helped him or her out a bit.  Something like that.
I spend hours helping my retired Dad wipe spyware off his computer. Does that count?

 
Most of what I do is for town soccer league (coaching, sit on the board) and for an initiative to help build a new school although that might be a little more similar to helping a political campaign as it involves trying to get a referendum passed.  

In both cases, there is direct effect to our family so not sure how altruistic it is relative to a soup kitchen or somethjnf

 
I see a lot of people that only volunteer when its something they can put on a resume or somehow use it to advance themselves.  Things like helping out at retirement homes or charities or the homeless shelters.  Those are basically the "big 3" that wind up on a resume or application for most people which makes me a bit cynical.  People that rattle those 3 off and nothing else kinda make me skeptical of how big hearted they truly are.   I prefer to hear stories about how you helped people in ways that won't go on a resume later in life. Maybe you just picked up trash on the beach on Saturday morning and no one was around to verify it.  Maybe you spent a day with an individual retiree in his own home (with no references from any sort of staff to use on a resume or application) and helped him or her out a bit.  Something like that.
Why would you put volunteering at a retirement home or soup kitchen on your resume?  The only volunteering stuff I typically see on resumes are people who serve on charitable Boards or other formal committees.  We have a whole bunch of people who do volunteer work for our Foundation, and I'm not aware of a single one who has put it on a resume or an application. And I've never been asked for a reference for any of those volunteers.  (That being said, I'd be more than happy to write a reference for a volunteer or for them to put their charity work on a resume - they are helping children with cancer and their families, and that is really all that matters to me).

P.S.  I also don't understand your "big three." Retirement homes, homeless shelters, and "charities."  Charities covers a huge spectrum of activities and organizations (including homeless shelters).

 
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I coach.  And am on our board.  I volunteer tons of time giving skills clinics to the girls and fixing/prepping/general maintenance on and around the fields.

We have kids volunteer for hours to work the concession stand/clean up trash/help with general stuff

 
Often when I go outside to get the mail, I'll see one of my elderly neighbors, and I'll stop and say hello. Usually this leads to a 20 minute conversation, because they're lonely and their kids rarely visit. It's so pathetic. But I'm glad I can be there for the old farts.

 
Often times I don't even know when I'm volunteering, but about 1.5 to 2 percent of my time is donated every year.  Always trying to cut back though

 
Why would you put volunteering at a retirement home or soup kitchen on your resume?  The only volunteering stuff I typically see on resumes are people who serve on charitable Boards or other formal committees.  We have a whole bunch of people who do volunteer work for our Foundation, and I'm not aware of a single one who has put it on a resume or an application. And I've never been asked for a reference for any of those volunteers.  (That being said, I'd be more than happy to write a reference for a volunteer or for them to put their charity work on a resume - they are helping children with cancer and their families, and that is really all that matters to me).

P.S.  I also don't understand your "big three." Retirement homes, homeless shelters, and "charities."  Charities covers a huge spectrum of activities and organizations (including homeless shelters).
If your familiar with any of his other posts, you will have more of an understanding.

 
I put aside about 30-35 hours for the Great American Beer Festival.  Does it count if I'm volunteering but get to drink a lot of quality beer?

 
30-40 hours a week, eleven and a half months a year, running the kids soccer league.  I have been on this pace for three or four years now.  I'm tired. 

 
20 hours a week with various veteran's organizations.  Sometimes it's 30, sometimes it's 10 but I'm putting in a lot of work the past year.  Love it most times, especially if there are events dedicated to a specific cause.  My charity money goes to animal welfare causes, I put the time in with veterans. 

 
I don't volunteer as much as I should--but I'm majorly active in supporting charitable organizations.   I probably custom design and donate items to 2-3 charities/institutions a month.   It's very fulfilling doing whatever you can to help out great causes. 

 
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Not as much as I used to.  The majority has been sports related.  I was on the youth football board for several years, and even stayed on for 2 or 3 years after my kids had given up football.  I also coached football for 3 or 4 years in the program.

I have coached baseball on and off starting when my boys were in 2nd and 3rd grade, now both in high school so I'm done with that.

I have coached basketball for I think 12 years.  Since the youngest is now in high school, I'm toying with the idea of taking on a team that my kid doesn't actually play for.  I'm also currently on the high school basketball booster club.

I also spent a lot of time volunteering for the kids school (they went to a k-8 school).  For a few years I would go in over my lunch hour 2-3 days a week and tutor kids in math.  That was the most personally rewarding volunteering I have ever done.  Helping kids go from no understanding to grasping a new concept and be able to apply it is quite the experience.  It made me think seriously about going into teaching, but it is a little late for a career change, particularly one where I would need to spend a lot of money to take a big pay cut.

 
We used to do a ton, everything from habitat to food bank volunteering.

Now I pretty much only volunteer around my kids.  At the school, coaching sports, field trips.

 
Whats something good a 7 year old can handle?  The only thing he's done is help passing out water at local races.  He loves doing this stuff.   

 
Twice a month on Saturday mornings.  Once at the Ann Arbor animal rescue..great selfless people work here for free.  I try to collect blankets and donations for food. It is a tough place to be in at times due to the condition of some of the animals that come in here but they really need the help.  I would take a dog home everytime if I could.  Feel good that I personally have placed over 30 dogs into forever homes the last two years just through my contacts.

The other I do with a friend at a soup kitchen in Detroit.  Honestly have met some of the nicest people there who are down on their luck.  One guy who I have become friends with was a factory worker at Ford.  Said he was married and had a nice house and car but lost his job when  the downturn hit in 2006, then his wife was in an accident.  Ended up losing everything within 2 years.  Said he sits and thinks "How did I get homeless..how did it happen to me?" "This is not me or who I am"   A friend of mine was able to land him a job in a school district as a custodian.  Now he comes back every Saturday to help others. Does not have nearly what he had before but has a nice small apartment and car and is slowly rebuilding his life.

What I realized helping out here is most of these people at one time had decent lives, of course there are the usual idiots you see at these places as well but they really don`t want any help and don`t communicate  at all. 

What they don`t have is any kind of family or friends that can help them through a rough patch financially and they lose everything much faster than I would in the same situation.

 
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i do a lot like maybe an average of 10 hours a week on top of my job and frankly it feels really good i recommend it for everyone it just changes who you are how you think about people and how you think about life basically it can help get you through a lot of tough times and give you a lot of perspective thats the path of the brohan baby take that to the bank 

 
Whats something good a 7 year old can handle?  The only thing he's done is help passing out water at local races.  He loves doing this stuff.   
How is he with ol' peeps? Ten minutes with a kid is a month of joy to a peep in a home. If you can hook him up, make sure he brings pictures

 
I'm the board treasurer for a non-profit youth hockey program.  It ends up being maybe 20-25 hours/month during Sept - April and then sporadic hours during the summer months.  I enjoy it, everyone's really grateful for the work I put in, but to be honest I wish I had more of a tangible front-line impact.  I've had to cut down on other volunteer work for worthwhile causes that are a little more near-and-dear to my heart and I miss them.  I'd rather be serving meals or organizing clothes donations at one of our homeless shelters where I used to frequently volunteer rather than another few hours of paying invoices and doing bookkeeping in Quickbooks.  But it's for the kids.

 
We volunteer as a family once a month on a Saturday morning to cook breakfast at a homeless shelter. Not everyone makes it every month with other obligations as well but everyone makes it more often than not. I tried to donate blood yesterday but apparently if you go to the Dominican you can't donate for at a year..... who knew :shrug:

 
if you're a parent & your kids school/team/organization asks for volunteers... only volunteer if you are committed. don't do so because you feel pressured or guilty. do it because it's something you want to do & when you're there, give 100%.

don't volunteer out of spite so that you can control the proceedings. don't volunteer because you think it will be easy. don't volunteer to be seen. don't volunteer so you can brag about it, hoping that it makes people think positively about you.

do it because you want to be there. because you want to help. because it makes you feel good to pitch in.

don't moan & groan about what a time suck it is. about how you'll follow through but only 1/2 as often as is requested or expected. and when you're there don't mail it in. let someone else who gives a #### step up and take the spot.

don't be the coach that shows up late, leaves early and is apathetic towards the kids because they aren't "good" and you hate losing. let a more enthusiastic, less sports-oriented parent take the job.

don't volunteer to lead a project or team activity, wait for everyone else to tell you what they want to do though you didn't ask & then complain nobody offered suggestions so you're canceling.

if someone/an organization reaches out for volunteers.... they need volunteers. not selfish #######s.

 
i volunteer on my sons rookie league. its my first time helping out and i prefer it versus sitting on the sidelines. even though i dont know much about the sport its cool to be out there with them

was considering volunteering for the PTO but they meet way too often dont think id be quality PTO material

 
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I have been a volunteer sports coach throughout the past 20+ years....  Baseball, soccer, basketball, football & even 1 season in swimming.   I even went and got my coaching license (league paid for it) in soccer & basketball both.  I started umpiring baseball games about 10 years ago (free) up until last year (now doing it for $$).   I started as a volunteer soccer coach in 1995.  Currently, I have 2 baseball teams - 1 rec & 1 high school program (both 14-17 yo).  Ran 2 regional All Star team (both lost in State finals 2015 & 2016)

I did some minor school volunteer stuff (concession stand, fund raisers, etc), but nothing of substance.  Just "fill in stuff" needed as part of PTO.  

Coaching youth sports has been very rewarding for me.  I like to think I have been a positive influence on the lives of so many youth.  I have done some competitive leagues but mostly local rec teams.    I expect when my youngest heads off to college in 2020, I will have to start with a younger team again.... 

 

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