It’s not mundane, or pointless, but it isn’t a debate, so I’ll put it here.
I decided over Christmas, after helping my coworker raise over $200 to buy presents for a needy family, that I needed to do something year-round. I contacted the local youth center, and now spend about 2 hours a week in the pre-school. It’s definately not a lot, but I have been working full time and taking 9 credits at a fairy prestigious University. I simply didn’t have time to do more.
They are tough kids, many of them are raised by a single parent, and we know when the parents pick them up that it doesn’t matter what we tell them during the day, if the parents counter-act the positive messages we tell them.
Now that classes are out, I’m looking for something else to do. SisterRiddles started a theater camp for the kids in our hometown, and I’m seriously considering attempting to spearhead a full-blown arts day camp for kids. I live in one of the better neighborhoods in a bad part of town, and to see three year olds playing on the street with nary a parent in sight hurts.
Anyone out there have experiance with a big volunteer project? I have quite a few contacts within the art community, and know a lot of people my own age that I could get to help. My mother and sister both have experiance writing grants. Any suggestions? This is literally just an idea at this point. Thanks.
I did volunteer work at a school for deaf kids about 12 years ago. It was for one day each week (my day off from work), but I enjoyed it a great deal. I no longer have days off during the week and the original school has long since closed down. Still, I enjoyed it and miss the kids.
I guess it all depends on what kind of work you want to do. What the hell, try a day or two at different locations (children’s hospital, homeless shelter, etc) until you find something you like. That may sound a little conceited, but you’ll do more harm than good working somewhere you don’t like.
I don’t have any helpful advice, but I have to say that I think you have a really great idea. I volunteer at our elemtary school, and there are a lot of kids who could really benefit by having some extra attention and structured activities.
And, if for some reason you can’t get this off the ground this summer, remember there is nothing stopping you from taking a neighborhood kid or two under your wing. A couple of days a week, I let one of the kids who I suspect don’t have the greatest home life come home with me for the afternoon. I might be flattering myself, but I think that they really enjoy getting to spend some one on one time with a grown up who cares. We play board games, do crafts, and generally have a good time for a few hours. It’s not much, but it’s suprising, if cliched, how much difference the little things can make.
I volunteer for my kids’ school a lot. Currently I am looking for workers for the goldfish booth for their festival.
The hardest volunteer job I ever had was working at a camp for mentally and physically handicapped children and adults. I really enjoyed the kids, but I was a tad intimidated by the adults. One older "camper"proposed to me, I laughed and he got really offended. One of the counselors told me later that he proposes all the time. One hapless volunteer said “sure” and was surprised when he produced a huge diamond ring the next week. Oops.
I also volunteered to work the phones at the rape crisis center in White Plains, NY. That was definitely a strange assignment. Didn’t help any victims,unfortunately, but talked to some very strange and messed up pranksters.
I volunteer 20 to 40 hours a week. Mostly for thrift shops rummage sale & babysitting. Not enough art here to volunteer for, besides, they pay me to model.
