My job affords me a lot of free time off (3 to 4 days a week). Which leaves me with a lot of idle time.
I’ve always been given to charities at work and various animal shelters. The one thing I’ve procrastinated about for years is that I was going to start actually volunteering my time as opposed to just donating money. I mean, why not? I’ve got the fucking time and me sitting on my ass at home isn’t doing anyone any favors. Myself included.
That said, I still have trouble getting excited about any of the volunteer groups around here (Dallas). So my brilliant idea, or maybe my crazy idea, I don’t know, you decide, is to put up an ad on Craig’s list. I’ll put the listing under “Free stuff” I’ll just say something to the effect of:
“Woke up today looking to do a good deed. If you’re in need of assistance I’m happy to help. I can’t help with money, but I do have a truck and am fairly handy around the house. I WILL NOT ENGAGE IN ANY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES.”
Now of course, when they call on the phone I can do my best to separate the crazies from the people in genuine need.
I don’t know, part of me is excited to try this, and the other part of me keeps hearing “Danger! Danger! Will Robinson!”
You are crazy. Now I’ll go read you OP and see what you are talking about.
ETA: Yup crazy. The part about the ad on Craig’s list. Just go to the places you care about and offer to help. Advertising will just attract loons. People in legitimate need will think it’s a scam, unless they are crazy and then you could be wasting your time.
You might be able to advertise as a handyman with very reasonable rates and then comp the work after you’re done.
I hiked with a guy who did volunteer work through a church. They had a list of seniors who needed help maintaining their rural property. He wasn’t really religious, but he loved helping in this way.
Or Habitat for Humanity maybe? Sounds like that could be a good fit?
If you want to help people, I don’t think you’re going to do a whole lot of good that way. Maybe you’ll help a few people looking for cheap labor move a sofa or whatever, but to that end, I don’t think any work you volunteer will make a difference. There’s obviously a ton of charities that can use volunteers, so if you want to do that, find one that you believe in and can use your skills and volunteer there. Or maybe you can volunteer at other places like a school or library or local/county/state park. Ask friends and family if you can help them out or if they have any charities or activities you can help with. Or, if you’re religious, check in with your congregation, and if not, maybe check in with religious friends and see if their congregations have any activities you can assist with.
Have you considered approaching a couple of service agencies instead of craigslist? That would seem more aligned with actually delivering help to people in need and less like a form of self entertainment.
There are agencies, where you live connecting people to help and services, and, I promise, they have people they don’t quite know how to get the help they need. You seem well positioned to step in and make a big difference.
Of course it would mean, you would be directed, I should think, towards providing A, B, or C. And not so much what you might fancy for whom you fancy. If that’s more important to you, well maybe you might reconsider your motivations.
Good Luck!
(Do keep us updated on your efforts however they manifest!)
Too many nutjobs around Craigslist. Just getting rid of stuff in a major city can be a risk; a post like this could draw out some seriously deranged individuals.
Try contacting Habitat for Humanity. They have a long list of folks who need repairs done, or to move supplies from one place to another. And they are already pre-vetted, so no time wasted. Also, the re-store is a second-hand shop they run in some cities for appliances, large furniture items, and various construction supplies. Many people want to buy second-hand there, but have no way to transport large goods.
You can also join a crew to help with larger “done in a day” projects. It’s a great social network with lots of good people.
Do you want to clean out basements for free? Go for it…actually that can be profitable sometimes…
Even working through churches can be a problem. I was once in a church group called “Service Associates” - sort of junior deacons - in a suburb of Dallas. We got a lot well funded older ladies wanting men to maintain their property for free. Then we got a pitiful story of a new seminary graduate needed people to paint in order to make their house sellable so he could take his first pastor job. On arrival the house was fine, in the $150-200K range, both had professional jobs, and moving away to a new job was totally their choice.
Sadly, I’d be concerned that a Craigslist ad mentioning “good deed” and “handy” would be misconstrued. And saying “no nutjobs” would only make things worse.
As an experiment, I say go for it, but don’t give them any of your personal information like a phone number until after you’ve weeded out the crazies.
That said, I have many of the same reservations as others do here. It’s worth doing as an experiment, but you’ll probably find out that it’s not such a good way to help people.
My advice would be to contact a number of local charities or churches and say “Here are my skills and my interests. What kinds of volunteer positions are available?” You might find that there’s more available than you realize.
(Personal anecdote that’s similar: my business once needed about 20 hours of help when a client wanted us to do a big mass-mailing for him. We thought it might be a fun side project and looked on Craig’s List for people to lick stamps. We found a guy who had an ad that basically said he’d do absolutely anything… kind of like the OP, but he did need money for it. Not only was he a great guy, it turned out that he was normally a substitute teacher. My wife used to hire substitute teachers at her old job, and passed his name along to them. The odds of such a win-win-win are probably low, but there you go.)
As some weird social experiment to answer the question “is the public at large dumber & stranger than I thought they were?” it’d be entertaining. I can tell you right now the answer you’ll get is “Yes!!!”
As a way to actually help deserving fellow humans? Totally a silly waste of your and their time.
Okay, advice will be heeded (as I weep for humanity), I guess I’ll give HFH a call. I was thinking I could try the local churches. I have no desire to attend their services but maybe they can put me to work somewhere.
Yet another nail in the coffin of humanity: Whenever you contact an agency that’s soliciting for volunteers, probably 90%-plus of the time, the phone number is not answered, and if it is, they won’t call you back, and e-mails are not returned either.
:smack:
People want to donate TIME and they’re not interested? I’ve never figured that out, either.
However, HFH is usually pretty good about getting back to people. You’ll probably have to do an orientation before volunteering; that’s what they do here, whether you work for the ReStore or the building projects themselves.
If you take any random organization you like, you’re virtually guaranteed to find something charitable to do.
As an example, my business is part of the local chapter of the Master Builder’s Association. Each year, they do an all-day Rampathon project building wheelchair ramps for people who need them. The MBA is not primarily charitable; this is just a side effort that puts to use the skills of the construction-related members. And my wife is not a builder, but she participates by providing lunches and refreshments to the workers.
I’ve never figured that out, either.