Volunteerism

[bestgear]

My hypothesis is that many of us here are (or have been) volunteers in one way, shape or form. I'm currently a volunteer for (a) Boy Scouts of America - Eagle Scout Candidate Coach and (b) Local Community Hospital Auxiliary - Gift Shop Clerk. Help me prove my hypothesis and share your volunteer experiences!

[jmh58]

I volunteered for many yrs at a Handicap hunt that a local township put on.. We would post the hunters then push for deer.. Was both rewarding and fun when a hunter got a deer..
John

[dlr110]

My hypothesis is that many of us here are (or have been) volunteers in one way, shape or form. I'm currently a volunteer for (a) Boy Scouts of America - Eagle Scout Candidate Coach and (b) Local Community Hospital Auxiliary - Gift Shop Clerk. Help me prove my hypothesis and share your volunteer experiences!

As a former Life Scout and Order of the Arrow thank you for your volunteer service to scouting.
When the kids were little I always loved being a Little League Coach and a drill instructor for my son's High School ROTC unit. For 3 years I was a volunteer judge for the City of North Richland Hills, TX for their yard of the month project, both business and residential. For 6 years I was a volunteer with the USO Center at DFW International Airport and as a field events representative. I volunteered as a Regional Coordinator for the Texas Peace Officers' Angels Foundation helping Texas Law Enforcement Officers and their families when an officer was injured in the line of duty.

Because health issues limit my volunteer activities these days I'm a little limited. I volunteer my time and talents to doing correspondence and website work for my church. I am a card carrying supporter/sometime volunteer with the "Wounded Warrior Project" the USO, the NRA and the Republican Party of Texas. In the spring I hope to start volunteering with the service desk at our local hospital.

[royal0014]

May not be exactly what you're asking, but ....

I've been in the local Rescue Squad over 25 years. Drowning recoveries and lost/missing person search.
Not nearly as active as I used to be, but my wife has stepped up her participation
a lot the last few years.

Along with that, the wife and I became a licensed EMT's in 1994, later joined a vol. Fire Dept. and the county vol. ambulance service (rural area). For a period of time, I ran around 90% of all EMS calls in the County,
simply because I worked 3rd shift and was the only EMT available during the day .

Sadly, the missus and I gave up Fire/EMS when we moved out of that area. We both let our license lapse ..


Between the 3 services, she and I have a few stories to tell . . . . .

[KLJ77]

In August of 1970, I volunteered for the U.S. Navy. At approximately 0030 hours (12:30 am), I stepped off the bus and onto a yellow square in San Diego Naval Base. At approximately 0430 hours, a 55 gallon metal trashcan was thrown down the center of our barracks, making a HUGE noise. The lights came on and five dudes in khaki uniforms began screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs for us to get out of bed and "pop tall". It was then, at that very moment, I realized what N A V Y actually stood for. Never Again Volunteer Yourself!

Seriously though...I've had some great times during my tenure of Navy life and after I got out.

** I've assisted those less fortunate and helped make their lives just a bit more pleasant.
** I've coached young men in sports, helping them to learn leadership skills and how to be the better person, teaching them that; it's not about the game, but about how you finish as a person.
** I've given personal time to visit nursing homes to visit with those who didn't have anyone. I've listened to their stories and gave them all the time they wanted to 'bend an ear' to anything they wanted to discuss or say. As a young man myself, this is where I learned a very valuable lesson in respect, honor and who the true heroes really were. These were times where just a touch, a hug or a tear meant the world to those who could no longer escape from their reality. I can only hope someone will do the same for me in my upcoming years...
** I've volunteered for "Clean the Bay" day, an annual event that can be somewhat arduous, and yet, fun at the same time.
** And of course, I volunteer to do whatever my better half says I need to be doing at any given moment.

[Mumbleypeg]

I don’t know why that wouldn’t count Chris. It was certainly a great service, and you weren’t paid (monetarily) so it was indeed volunteerism.

I’ve been a volunteer at many different things most of my life, as I’m sure many here have, coaching youth sports, working with the Boys and Girl's Club, local food bank volunteer, etc. Currently I serve as an elder in my church. I’ve been involved with the Boy Scouts of America most of my life, starting as a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Cub Scout adult leader, Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop Committee member, and am currently Unit Commissioner for local Cub Scout and Scouts BSA units.

Ken

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

My daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 2 years old. We met some other families with Type 1 kids and we decided to form a support group for kids with diabetes. I was on the Board of Directors and I built the website. We were a great resource to families that had just been diagnosed - that is a terrible time with all that you have to learn and accept, and you have to do it all NOW - there is no time to get used to it. We also did fundraising for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (http://www.jdrf.org). As the kids in the group grew-up, the families drifted apart and the organization died.

We've occasionally done some other volunteering here & there - food bank, museum, etc.

[philco]

I served as a volunteer firefighter for about 13 years. My wife and I served as the adult leaders of the high school aged youth group at our church for a few years. I've also served as a deacon and later an elder in my church along with serving a couple of terms as chairman of the church board. More recently I taught the young adult Sunday School class for a few years at our current church. I served as a church speaker for The Gideons International until my COPD forced me to give that up. I also serve as a volunteer administrator here at AAPK.

[jerryd6818]

The first time was 28 June 1962. Four years, two months and twelve days later I decided I didn't want to do that anymore. I volunteered at one of the local hospitals for a couple of different stretches in the mid - late '80s, but that's been about it.

[zzyzzogeton]

I was a volunteer Fireman for 32 years, a volunteer EMT for 31 years, a volunteer sheriff's department Search/Recovery Diver (drowning victims, evidence recovery) for 31 years. I also volunteered for lake clean-up campaign dives for 15 years. I was also a volunteer EMT on the corporate response team for 10+ years while employed at Dell Computers, proving EMS response for 9 buildings.

I've been a Master Gardener for 3 years, providing 100+, 200+ and 300+ community service hours in those years.

I've served as Usher, Altar Guild, Communion Assistant, and Assistant Pastor at my church for 10+ years.

Appointed an Admiral in the (3rd) Texas Navy 23 years ago, I work with providing education about the Texas Navy and its importance in Texas gaining its independence from Mexico (1st Navy) and maintaining its independence (2nd Navy) in the years leading up to Texas joining the USA at events around the state. As a member of the Edwin Moore Squadron, I am currently serving as its Texas Navy History Liaison Officer, where I work with central Texas school districts to provide speakers about the Texas Navy to Texas History classes, ensuring that (new) Texas History teachers are aware of the documentary video the TN produced, and coordinate TN information tables are set up at events.

And whatever my 84 year old mother decides I should be "helping out with".

[Mumbleypeg]

I’m reminded of one of my earliest memories of volunteering viewtopic.php?f=21&t=28684&p=632505&hil ... rs#p632505



Ken

[Airborne 1]

Last time I volunteered ,they sent me to vietnam. That was the last time I made that mistake.Sorry

[bestgear]

Nice display of volunteerism gentlemen ..... where are all the Elks, Lions, Moose not to mention the Masons, Habitat for Humanity and Nature Conservancy ..... good to see so much faith-based representation

[dlr110]

I did leave out that my lottery number came up and because of my bright red hair at the time I didn't look good in army green. So I quickly ran down to the Navy recruiter and "volunteered." Twenty six years later I faced mandatory retirement from the Navy because of "High Year Tenure."

When the kids were little I always loved being a Little League Coach and a drill instructor for my son's High School ROTC unit. For 3 years I was a volunteer judge for the City of North Richland Hills, TX for their yard of the month project, both business and residential. For 6 years I was a volunteer with the USO Center at DFW International Airport and as a field events representative. I volunteered as a Regional Coordinator for the Texas Peace Officers' Angels Foundation helping Texas Law Enforcement Officers and their families when an officer was injured in the line of duty.

Because health issues limit my volunteer activities these days I'm a little limited. I volunteer my time and talents to doing correspondence and website work for my church. I am a card carrying supporter/sometime volunteer with the "Wounded Warrior Project" the USO, the NRA and the Republican Party of Texas. In the spring I hope to start volunteering with the service desk at our local hospital.

[fergusontd]

I volunteered for the Navy in '68, drove the band equipment truck for the school, and helped coach girls summer softball, and helped my wife with girl scouts from time to time. ftd

[royal0014]

I was a volunteer Fireman for 32 years, a volunteer EMT for 31 years, a volunteer sheriff's department Search/Recovery Diver (drowning victims, evidence recovery) for 31 years. I also volunteered for lake clean-up campaign dives for 15 years. I was also a volunteer EMT on the corporate response team for 10+ years while employed at Dell Computers, proving EMS response for 9 buildings.

Wow. That totally blew our little bit of service out of the water.

[OLDE CUTLER]

From 2001-2008 I was a volunteer Big Brother in the Big Brother/Big Sister program locally. Volunteers (Big Brothers) are matched with a young boy that does not have regular or no contact with their dad. I worked with 4 different 9-10 year olds over that time frame. 2 of my matches ended because the youngsters mom got married, 1 ended when they moved out of state, and one ended when the mom went to prison and the boy had to go live with relatives out of state. After a while you really do get attached to the kids and hate to see the matches end. I tried to do some woodworking and hand tool teaching with the kids I was with, and they seemed to enjoy that aspect of it. We would take some pine boards and make an old fashion tool tote to keep them in and then gradually acquire a few hand tools for the kid to keep and use. Our local BB/BS organization was really great to work with also, they received lot of sports event tickets to our local college and semi pro teams that were distributed to the "Bigs". I generally spent an hour or two a week with the little brother and I found that it was time that both of us looked forward to. I got out of the program after the 4th kid because when the kids think you are too old, then YOU ARE TOO OLD. One of the best achievements for me was being named the "Outstanding Big Brother of the Year in 2001".

[jerryd6818]

Oh yeah. I forgot Big Brothers. I only did one kid but he and I are still friends today. It's years in between contact but when we do get together it's very convivial.

[KLJ77]

"convivial"

I learned a new word today. To be cheerful and festive.

Always good to learn something 'new'.

[just bob]

What I've discovered is that most organizations attempt to turn volunteers into unpaid full time employees. I got in over my head with Habitat for Humanity in no time when the local crew leaders were leaving me in charge while they checked out other work. I backed out of that entire situation gracefully and didn't go back. I also signed up to help with at a local nature preservation group. I was getting daily phone calls though I told them I only wanted to help part of one day each week. I currently volunteer for 3 local agencies and none of them know I exist. I pick up trash, clean the parking lots, and do landscaping that needs to be done. I was discovered by one of the groups and they attempted to sign me up. I shook their hand and so no thanks, I'll just help out when I can. I would say I help out at least 10 hours a week - on my own schedule.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

When my son was in Cub Scouts, I would always attend the meetings to help the pack leader. We were a brand new pack (at a new elementary school) and none of us knew what the heck we were doing. We had one boy that was your typical chucklehead - he wouldn't concentrate on the activity, wouldn't listen to the pack leader, was always getting into arguments with other kids, etc, etc. I noticed that the kid was always brought to the meetings by his mom, who just dumped him off and drove away. Eventually the story came out - the mom was divorced and the father was AWOL. The mother actually told us that she thought "it would be good for her son to be around some grown-up men." So, she expected us to be surrogate fathers for her kid. I didn't sign-up for that - I just wanted to spend some time with my own boy! The next year we moved to a much more established pack at a different school and had a much better experience.

I wasn't in scouts when I was a kid. We were a 4-H family. My parents actually founded a new 4-H club in the late 1950s and they were big wigs at the local fair for decades. I did tons of volunteer work as part of the 4-H club. Road clean-ups, visiting senior citizen homes, food & clothing drives, working food booths at fairs and other events, etc, etc.

[OLDE CUTLER]

I started out on a new volunteer role recently. I don't know how many of you may be familiar with a website www.findagrave.com , but on that website one can find where the burial sites are for family members, celebrities, and anyone you may be looking for. I signed up to be what is called a photo volunteer, which means for instance that if you are doing a family tree or other genealogical work, you can start a page there and have your ancestors listed in a memorial to them. The originators of the memorials will then make a photo request for some one local to the cemetery to go out and take a photo of the grave stone to include in their memorial. The people making the photo request may be anywhere in the US or world for that matter. If the cemetery is within the radius of miles that I have included in my profile by my zip code, then I will get a notification of the request and can act on it at my leisure to go to the cemetery, take the photo requested, and post it to be included on the memorial page. Kind of interesting. My brother and I have done a lot of family research in this area and I am familiar with most of the cemeteries in our area, so this was something I wanted to try. I was out today to a local cemetery and did 3 photo requests. The snow cover here over the winter was an issue, but over the last week the snow has been melting rapidly making picture taking of things on the ground possible. The people who request the photos are most appreciative and grateful for your efforts as they may be hundreds or thousands of miles away and would likely never get the chance to take the photo themselves. So I truck out to a cemetery with the DSLR, notebook, GPS unit and cemetery maps to do this occasionally. When I post the photo, the GPS coordinates go with it so anyone can locate the grave on one of the many mapping websites. Lets see, I got 3 done today and there are 107 more requests within 25 miles of my house. Hmmmm

[cudgee]

Volunteering is one of the great things we can do as a civilised society, my mum used to say, if you can do something good for someone, do it, and you do it because it is the wright thing to do, i have done a few volunteering roles as many of you have. . But finding volunteers over here is becoming more difficult, and one of the main reasons is, all the legal and logistical things and courses and forms you have to fill in and sign. It is as though governments and local authorities are going out of their way to make it so difficult to become a volunteer, that they don't want them. I find it sad, frustrating and a blight on authority when an over paid official who's remuneration is set in stone in a contract is making life so difficult for people who only want to help, for no money, and more importantly, the people and organisations that need the help. Sorry if i sound like a whinger, but i take my hat off to all volunteers, they are the real hero's.

[TPK]

I started out on a new volunteer role recently. I don't know how many of you may be familiar with a website www.findagrave.com , but on that website one can find where the burial sites are for family members, celebrities, and anyone you may be looking for. I signed up to be what is called a photo volunteer, which means for instance that if you are doing a family tree or other genealogical work, you can start a page there and have your ancestors listed in a memorial to them. The originators of the memorials will then make a photo request for some one local to the cemetery to go out and take a photo of the grave stone to include in their memorial. The people making the photo request may be anywhere in the US or world for that matter. If the cemetery is within the radius of miles that I have included in my profile by my zip code, then I will get a notification of the request and can act on it at my leisure to go to the cemetery, take the photo requested, and post it to be included on the memorial page. Kind of interesting. My brother and I have done a lot of family research in this area and I am familiar with most of the cemeteries in our area, so this was something I wanted to try. I was out today to a local cemetery and did 3 photo requests. The snow cover here over the winter was an issue, but over the last week the snow has been melting rapidly making picture taking of things on the ground possible. The people who request the photos are most appreciative and grateful for your efforts as they may be hundreds or thousands of miles away and would likely never get the chance to take the photo themselves. So I truck out to a cemetery with the DSLR, notebook, GPS unit and cemetery maps to do this occasionally. When I post the photo, the GPS coordinates go with it so anyone can locate the grave on one of the many mapping websites. Lets see, I got 3 done today and there are 107 more requests within 25 miles of my house. Hmmmm

Very interesting O.C.!

[Mumbleypeg]

Volunteering is one of the great things we can do as a civilised society, my mum used to say, if you can do something good for someone, do it, and you do it because it is the wright thing to do, i have done a few volunteering roles as many of you have. . But finding volunteers over here is becoming more difficult, and one of the main reasons is, all the legal and logistical things and courses and forms you have to fill in and sign. It is as though governments and local authorities are going out of their way to make it so difficult to become a volunteer, that they don't want them. I find it sad, frustrating and a blight on authority when an over paid official who's remuneration is set in stone in a contract is making life so difficult for people who only want to help, for no money, and more importantly, the people and organisations that need the help. Sorry if i sound like a whinger, but i take my hat off to all volunteers, they are the real hero's.

Much if not all of that is because of lawyers. The organizations for which you’re volunteering have to cover their a**es to protect from lawsuits

Ken