In September 2008, I was unemployed and not feeling very satisfied with my life. Even with a published book to my name and other previous accomplishments, not being immersed in a career was starting to get to me. Formerly, I worked for the Government (1989-2005) and had quit when my son, who is autistic, started school and therapy sessions on a full-time basis. Working as a technical writer, I made a high-end salary and, to this day, I still get inquiries offering these types of positions. Yes, I know in these hard economic times, I should consider job offers such as these and am probably a "fool" to turn them down. However, to be quite honest, I did not find technical writing that exciting and did not care for the type of environment I previously worked in. For me, I wanted to have a job which I enjoyed and a job that allowed me to make a positive impact in the community.
One day while talking with a friend, I mentioned that I wanted to go into public speaking and mentoring to help people learn to empower themselves to reach their full potential. She suggested that I volunteer, since it was hard to "get a job" as a public speaker or mentor. She said, "If you really want to help people, start by volunteering." I thought, "That's a great idea!" So, later that day, I e-mailed the United Way of York County asking them about volunteer opportunities and attached my resume for background purposes.
To my surprise, on my birthday to be exact, I got more than an e-mail response to my inquiry; I actually got a job offer! I read the job description and could not believe what I was reading. They needed a Youth Volunteer Initiatives Coordinator (YVIC) for SecureCorps, an AmeriCorps program. The purpose of the position is to increase awareness to middle school and high schools students about the importance of volunteerism. I couldn't believe it! I thought "Wow! This job is perfect for me!" On October 1, 2008, I started my new position, and two months later, I had spoken to more than 1,000 students, conducted the National Family Volunteer Day service project, and had started planning for our MLK Day of Service event.
The purpose of this blog is to encourage volunteerism and show that the experience may lead you to learn something new about yourself and/or find a new career. Every day the local news reports about increases in layoffs for many local residents and throughout the United States. A job or the company you previously worked for should not define who you are or what you are; it is your skills and talents that should define you. The challenge is for you to find another employer who will pay you for your skills. No, volunteering may not lead you to another career as it did for me, but you never know what is possible until you try. Therefore, if you are one of the recently unemployed waiting in between interviews, filling out job applications and have some spare time, why not utilize the skills and talents you have to help others? The help you can give to others may help someone to lead a more productive life, for which they may forever be grateful. In the end, you too may also walk away feeling grateful.
January 2009 Archives
I am happy to announce that our volunteer presentations, which have only been given to middle and high school students, are now being offered to elementary school students. Our volunteer requirements, through our volunteer center at the United Way of York, mostly consists of agencies looking for volunteers who are 13 years or older. However, there are many activities that younger children can participate in to help others in need. When conducting our National Family Volunteer Day and MLK Service Day events, we had many children participate by decorating and writing "Get Well" cards for children at local hospitals as well as creating arts and crafts. Some also helped create care packets for the homeless. I noticed that the children seemed very pleased to know that the cards they were decorating were going to help "cheer up" other children. Therefore, it occurred to me that our presentations could also be conducted at the elementary school level and that it is never too early to encourage the importance and benefits of volunteering.
As I mentioned above, they may not be able to volunteer with certain local agencies, due to certain guidelines and, most of all, age requirements, but I can give them many ideas of what they can do on their own, as a family, or as a community to help others in need. Other ideas could include activities to raise money for charities such as a car wash, bake sale or participate in a neighborhood clean-up day. Again, the presentation would include a very basic, brief explanation defining volunteering, it's importance and benefits. At the end of the presentation I would have the children participate in a fun activity such as coloring or decorating cards or other arts and crafts for children at local hospitals or for seniors at local nursing and/or retirement homes.
I think these presentations would make a positive impact on children and a chance to instill a life-long interest in helping others. Our volunteer presentations are available to all schools, local agencies/organizations and/or church groups. If interested, please contact Kim Goff at the United Way of York County, 717-771-3822 or email goffk@unitedway-york.org.
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is the largest annual celebration of young volunteers, where millions of young people in countries everywhere carry out thousands of community improvement projects. All organizations are encouraged to plan youth-led community service projects that involve the broader community in GYSD or showcase existing projects to the media and surrounding community.
The project for GYSD has changed, we are now seeking volunteers to help clean up John Rudy County Park, which is located near Central High School in York. Help us mulch, pull weeds and clean so that all members of the community can enjoy a clean, safe park.
Our event will take place on Saturday, April 18th from 10-2 pm at John Rudy County Park, located near Central High School in York, to sign-up contact Kim Goff, 717-771-3822 or email goffk@unitedway-york.org.
MLK Service Day, for the United Way of York County, was a success! Originally, we had 25-30 people signed up to participate and ended up having 51 people show up and some were nice enough to bring donations. Our project for that day was to create care packets for the Bell Family Shelter. 113 packets were made. We also had arts and craft activities for younger ones that included coloring "Get Well" cards for children at York Hospital. I would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in this event. I would also like to thank Northeastern High School for their donation drive for which they collected the toiletries we desperately needed and they also collected $55 in monetary donations towards our event.
However, the event in Hanover was not so successful. I only had 6 students and 3 adults participate in the event. However, they did create 32 care packets for the Hanover Area Council of Churches homeless shelter. The students were from the Southwestern School District.
I wish we could have had more participation and donations towards our service project, overall, however, I am very, very grateful for the turnout we did get. For 2009, my goal is to try to increase the number of community participation and donations for our 2010 event. I would like to thank the reporters and photographers from the York Daily Record, York Dispatch and Evening Sun who came out to report on our event and future events. We, for some reason, could not get the media attention we needed for this project and I am very grateful for the media coverage we did get today from the local papers.
If anyone, at anytime, would like to make any type of donation towards this project we would greatly appreciate it. We can take donations anytime throughout the year for the next MLK event. To me, MLK Service Day is not only about people helping people, but also about people being able to witness, first-hand, how important volunteering is to their community and the positive impact it can have on everyone.
On January 19, 2009 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware will serve in the 14th annual Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service. Since 1996, some 400,000 volunteers across the region have celebrated Dr. King's legacy by turning community concerns into volunteer service and citizen action on King Day and throughout the year. Each year, the annual Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service has been the largest King Day event in the nation.
United Way of York will be participating in this event by making care packets for homeless shelter recipients at the Hanover Area Council of Churches and the Bell Family Shelter. On Monday, January 19th, 2009 from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon, at the United Way of York (in the community room) volunteers will put together care packets of toiletries; shampoo, combs, chapstick, toothbrushes, toothpaste and wash cloths. That same day, from 3:00 to 6:30 pm, our second event will take place at the South Hanover YMCA. We are seeking volunteers from local schools and communities to participate in these events. Volunteers may also participate by donating travel-size toiletries, please contact Kim Goff for details.
On a personal note, I am a parent of a special-needs child and would like to also incorporate the help of all special-needs kids/adults to participate. This event would give the special-needs community a chance to show that they, too, can help others in need; that they do not have to only be on the "receiving end" of volunteer efforts. Participants do not have to stay the entire time of the event, any amount of time anyone can contribute; 5, 10 or 30 minutes would be greatly appreciated.
Contact Kim at goffk@unitedway-york.org to participate or donate
Volunteer opportunities consists of many different activities that I think surprise people. Did you know that we have volunteer opportunities for Wii challengers? Yes, that's right; I have senior centers who are looking for Wii challengers for their elder residents. Wii is not just a "young" activity; it is an activity for all ages. I also have retirement homes that our looking for musicians to come and play for their residents, and I also have requests for "friendly visitors" - people just to come in and talk to their residents.
Many of the students I speak to are so surprised to hear about these volunteer opportunities. Our other volunteer opportunities include: teaching others how to read or learn a skill, taking care of pets, create and update websites for local charities and assisting special-needs children and adults. It is important to enjoy your volunteering experience and that is something I strongly encourage in my volunteer presentations. I try to encourage students to utilize their skills and/or talents for the purpose of benefiting others. We all have skills and/or talents that can help or bring happiness to someone who really needs it - and it can be fun! If you are going to volunteer your time you might as well have some fun!
To view Volunteer Opportunities in your community please visit:
http://www.unitedway-york.org/volunteerctr_main.html
