Volunteering

Also animal and pet shelters like the DumbFriends League use volunteers to help out in various ways, great for animal lovers.

Just offering to help an elderly neighbor by shoveling their snow, shopping for their groceries, mowing their lawns, or walking their dogs is a good way to volunteer your time.
 
One of the most satisfying ways to volunteers is to offer the skills and experience that you have aquired over many years to the board or organizing committe of a non-profit organization. I don't think I'd be as useful in the kitchen of a shelter as someone younger and quicker on their feet, but I'm positive that I could manage the finances and secure grant funding.
 
I work at our local food bank (I have for years, even before retiring). I find it to be very rewarding. With the economy the way it is our local food bank has been busier than ever, and needs more volunteers. Even if you can't afford to donate food, donating time is just as valuable.
 
I crochet for charity - hats for the homeless, blankets for children with AIDS, etc. I crochet in my home, as well as at a Yarn Ministry meeting.

One woman who was in a nursing home really enjoyed knitting for charity, she was 90 years old when she passed away. Someone always offered her a ride to the meetings and she would come in, using her walker, with a big smile on her face as she so enjoyed being able to do something for others. Just before she passed away, the nurses knew she was then dying and so, they put her last knitting project in her hands as she passed away. I am sure it gave her comfort, as she so enjoyed being able to do something for others even though she was living in a nursing home.

My parents did volunteer work until shortly before they passed away. I hope that I am able and well enough to be able to do something for others - for the rest of my life.
 
When we lived in Arizona I was a member of the Sheriffs Posse.
The stated function was to be the eyes and ears for the Sheriffs Office. There were 150 members that mostly patrolled the senior community where we lived. The Posse had 14 patrol cars, no horses. I served as a dispatcher in the HQ building, communicating with those on patrol by radio and the public by phone. I could communicate with the 2 fire houses in our community.
The posse had social events for members 4 times a year. It was a very interesting experience, I did it for 9 years.
 
I volunteered as a Command Pilot for Angel Flight West. I flew patients to or from their appointments at distant points at no charge.
This avoided long car trips. I flew 110 missions transporting patients.
I also belonged to Civil Air Patrol, flying search and counter drug missions.
Another thing I did was volunteer at a local hospice repairing medical equipment and appliances.
 
AlbertC said:
One of the most satisfying ways to volunteers is to offer the skills and experience that you have aquired over many years to the board or organizing committe of a non-profit organization. I don't think I'd be as useful in the kitchen of a shelter as someone younger and quicker on their feet, but I'm positive that I could manage the finances and secure grant funding.
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My late husband did that and everybody benefitted.
 
I am a habitual volunteer and always encouraged my kids to do so as well. However, for a variety of reasons I have not volunteered in the past few years. I'm debating signing up to help at a local soup kitchen that really needs people. I'm reluctant because my level of functioning has been low lately (due to depression), and I worry about overcommitting. However, I'm pretty sure I could handle starting out with, say, one 2-hour shift a week.
 
Alizerine said:
Some of the opportunities are new and helping one another never gets old. Would it be better if it was reintroduced as a new topic? Not sure how this works.
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well normally I would say don't start another if there's already a current one on the same topic... but 14 years is a massive difference where things have changed a lot.. so I think it should be a new topic!
 
Over my years, I have volunteered in a variety of things.

Our local Human Society, visiting and spending time with
the current animals in the shelter, giving them one on one
comfort time. Only to those animals though I felt safe and
compatible with.

Also visiting those who have no visitors or company during
their stays in Nursing Homes..

This year 2024, I am not volunteering anywhere, but in my
own ways, I extend myself to help others and in other ways~
 
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