Filed under: Uncategorized
Today I had a follow-up “interview” at a local senior center where I spoke with the Director about what I could do for them. It was decided that I would teach a Basic Computer course, twice a week, in two-week intervals. Although I had initially imagined myself lounging around, sipping iced tea and joining in for the occasional hand of bridge (which I don’t even play,) I soon learned that this wouldn’t be the case.
As the Director explained to me, “this is like a country club. People just come and go as they please. We have around two hundred classes going on each month so we stay pretty busy!” Although it was pretty quiet while I was there, you could tell that there was a hum underlying all the activity there.
Anyone in the community over the age of fifty is welcome to join for the hefty fee of fifty dollars – for the year. Oh, and 75 if they decide to have gym privileges. It about had me signing up for AARP; everyone there was friendly and didn’t look nearly as decrepit as one might imagine them too. These folks are robust at fifty, jolly at sixty, downright enthusiastic at seventy, and the list goes on. They make old age look like a party.
Although I won’t be teaching until next month, I look forward to teaching my course in basics. I work on my laptop all day long so it will be nice to take a step back and teach someone who, feasibly, has never quiet gotten around to using one. Or hasn’t since DOS was fashionable and new.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: disaster, fire, natural disaster, opportunity, Red Cross, volunteer orientation
Tonight I attended a volunteer orientation for the Red Cross. An old friend of mine had worked at this particular chapter and, although her life was often chaotic, she never ran out of stories of the good deeds that went on behind the scenes.
At the beginning of the orientation,all of the volunteers gave their name and a little info about themselves. I usually hate this part (as I don’t like talking about myself too much) but I love hearing about other people’s stories of why they chose to be there. And the answers certainly ran the gamut. One man was a doctor from Nigeria, an older Hispanic woman a retired RN, an even older gentleman was a retired firefighter and a spattering of younger people, like myself, who just wanted to help others.
As I sat there I thought about all of the scenarios that might arise in which I could be called to help. House fires, natural disaster relief, even a missing child search could bring the Red Cross with their trucks loaded to the brim with essentials. All at once I felt full of opportunity and uncertainty, wondering if I with my limited skills could really be of use. But the two teachers assured us again and again that everyone could be used, and would need to be used, in the future.
In fact, one teacher kept repeating how there “would definitely be a disaster in the future.” Not what a paranoid hypochondriac really wants to hear on her first night “on the job.”
And this night is only the beginning. There are more courses to be taken in the areas of speciality that one would like to help in. This doesn’t deter me from volunteering with the Red Cross; in fact, I simultaneously listening to our instructors and planning to buy some Spanish textbooks to brush up on mi Espanol.
I might be making this sound more glamorous or exciting than it will be. From my friend I know that phone calls will be received at 2, 3 o’clock in the morning and I will be expected to throw on clothes as quickly as possibly and run out the door, knowing that there are people waiting on me for assistance.
Of course, I don’t hope for any natural disasters or house fires to claim homes, but once they inevitably do, I will be glad that I prepared for and were able to provide the assistance and comfort that only someone from the Red Cross could do.
www.redcross.org
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: CADASIL, disease, genetic testing, Hunter's Hope Foundation, Krabbe Disease, leukoencephalopathy, memory loss, NIH, stroke
Each time I make a donation this year I want to choose a cause that is close to my heart. There couldn’t be anything closer than my mother’s illness. She was finally diagnosed, after many years and several misdiagnoses, with CADASIL. The long name,cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, is as intimidating as the diagnosis is.
To explain it best, I borrowed from the National Institute of Health:
…an inherited condition that causes stroke and other impairments. This condition affects blood flow in small blood vessels, particularly in the brain. An abnormality in the muscle cells surrounding these blood vessels (vascular smooth muscle cells) gradually destroys these cells. The resulting blood vessel damage can cause migraines and other impairments of normal brain function. Later in life, the damaged blood vessels can cause reduced blood flow to various tissues in the body (ischemia). Although the severity of symptoms varies among those affected, people with CADASIL typically have more than one stroke in their lifetime. Recurrent strokes can progressively damage the brain, causing loss of intellectual function (dementia).
It is difficult to watch my mother suffer through mini-strokes, loss of memory, dizziness, fainting spells and other ailments attributed to CADASIL. It is even scarier still knowing that I have a fifty percent chance of having the disease myself, but have chosen not to be tested for it.
It is a little known disease but those who have it and their caretakers are well-aware of the troubles that go with any leukodystrophy disease. Thus I chose Hunter’s Hope Foundation, whose mission is as follows:
- To broaden public awareness of Krabbe Disease and other Leukodystrophies thus increasing the probability of early detection and treatment.
- To gather and provide current, functional information and service linkages to families of children with Leukodystrophies.
- To fund research efforts that will identify new treatments, therapies and ultimately, a cure for Krabbe Disease and other Leukodystrophies.
- To establish an alliance of hope that will nourish, affirm and confront the urgent need for medical, financial and emotional support of family members and those afflicted with Leukodystrophies.
It is difficult enough to watch my mother and wonder when the “big one” will come, it must be absolutely heart-wrenching to be a parent to a child afflicted with Krabbe’s or other affiliated diseases. Please open up your hearts to this cause.
http://hhf.convio.net/site/PageServer
Filed under: Uncategorized
Today was a beautiful day in my fair city, the type of weather that induces you to get up and out on a Sunday afternoon and run around doing errands with your sweetheart. At least that is what it was for me. One of the places on our journey today was a large pet emporium to get an engraved dog tag. As my sweetie took care of that I was distracted by a sweet cat purring madly by the register. It had a sign on its cage saying “Hi, my name is Lily. I am 3 years old and so sweet, please take me home today!” My heart strings tugged because I wanted to become Lily’s new owner. Unfortunately the four-legged queen of my domicile, Priscilla, would have taken great offense to a new cat coming home and made life pretty miserable for everyone involved.
Next month I will be going to a training session at the shelter where Priscilla came from, a wonderful place that is clean, friendly and no-kill. But seeing Lily today just reminded me of how many animals roam the streets without a home (oftentimes having come from a home that no longer wanted them, a damn shame!) or are sitting day after day in a shelter waiting to be loved by someone. I can’t even watch movies centered on animals anymore, they are just about the only ones that make me cry these days. Since I don’t have a huge house with acres of land that hundreds of animals could find a home on, my donation today is going to the ASPCA, an organization that my family has used for years to find the animals that have left an indelible mark in my (and their) heart. While I understand and appreciate why some people choose to go to breeders for their next furry friend, in my heart of hearts I can’t understand why when there are so many more, thousands more, perfectly wonderful animals waiting to be rescued.
http://www.aspca.org/
Filed under: Uncategorized
When I was a kid I loved reading. My father has often told me how at a very young age, to his surprise, I would grab the books from him and start to read on my own. Of course, how much was from rote memory and how much from actual understanding of the words on the page I don’t know. As I got older I would go through books like kids these days go through video games, devouring each story and eager for the next one. Even at restaurants I would sit in the corner (or occasionally under the table) and read while the adults leisurely ate and chatted about things that couldn’t possibly interest me at that time.
After college when I wasn’t reading for class assignments I found myself reading again for pleasure. I explored different genres and quickly ruled out sappy romances and books that were too stylistic. Mysteries, dramas and horror stories came out on top as my favorites, and I cherish the days when I can spend a few hours (with little guilt) devoted entirely to reading.
But as I learn more about the world around me I have come to realize that everyone was not afforded the same opportunities I was in youth. Not everyone is given a new book each time they finish an old one; a trip to the library might be the closest some children get to books. And any true reader knows the joy of feeling the newness of the pages in their hands, the spine still fresh, no pages dog-eared or underlined from previous use.
Although I can’t remember my first book, I can remember so many from long ago, like E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web and the entire collection of The Chronicles of Narnia. I found this great charity to donate to today called, aptly, “First Book.” Taken directly from the website, their mission is to “provide new books to children in need addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books.” What a wonderful cause! How excited I can picture the lucky recipients of books from this charity to be when they are able to pick out a new book, their very own, to take home and spend hours reading and re-reading. I hope that more people will donate to their cause.
http://www.firstbook.org/site/c.lwKYJ8NVJvF/b.674095/k.CCA8/First_Book_Homepage.htm
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: CFF, Cystic Fibrosis, donation, Great Strides, Kohl's, picc line, Providing Tomorrow Every Day, vest, volunteer
For a few years now I have volunteered for the local chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation where a good friend of mine works doing fundraising. Like any other nonprofit they never turn down a volunteer as there is always something to be done around the office. Creating packets for their annual Walks, calling stores for donations or entering data are all examples of things that can be monotonous yet time-consuming, a burden for people who already give so much of their week (and often weekends) to such a wonderful cause.
When I went in today I was quickly sent to work creating packets for Team Leaders of their annual Great Strides campaign. As I was filling up the folders two more volunteers came in. These girls were about 19 and I soon realized that one of them actually had CF herself. She was so cheerful and the two of them just chatted away about different things in their life, bickering a little and then teasing one another while they adhered stickers to packets. After a while everyone got talking about different things related to CF such as picc lines ( peripherally inserted central catheter), scars from injections and vests.
That reminded my friend of a flight that she took once where she just happened to sit next to the man who invented the vests that CF patients use daily to clear excess mucus from their lungs. We all commented on what a coincidence that was. Then the young girl with CF said that she had a spare vest she wanted to donate. “When I got this vest it was when they were first coming out, so it cost around $20,000.” My friend thanked her profusely and quickly got on the phone to another CF office to let them know about the donation.
Right after that happened they started talking about other donations when they realized that the other young volunteer worked for Kohl’s A-Team, one of the organizations that donates to the CFF, and in fact, Kohl’s is giving away even more money this year. My friend called her co-worker into the office and they all stood around speaking loudly and excitedly about what good fortune they had happened to meet this way.
I was struck by a few things today. First, I was so pleased to see members of the younger generation volunteering, and on a Friday to boot! Secondly, that someone with the disease was donating their time back to the cause, time that is already too precious for them. And lastly, how appreciative everyone in the room was for the little victories that occur in the nonprofit world, when an unexpected donor shows up with a generous donation or that a few people are willing to come out on a beautiful sunny day and sit inside stuffing envelopes.
Until my friend started working for the CFF, I knew nothing about Cystic Fibrosis. Now, I know enough to understand what people afflicted with it suffer through daily, how so many of them are taken away too soon. But I also know that there is a cure that is so close to surfacing, it could literally be tomorrow that someone finds it. Their slogan, “Providing Tomorrows Every Day” is so true, you can feel it and hope for it every time you meet someone new with CF, and say goodbye to someone who battled bravely against it. I hope for the day when my time is no longer needed volunteering for them. To learn more, visit their website today: www.cff.org .
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: clothing, donation, Salvation Army, tax-return
When I arrived for my assignment today, I walked around the department store and, like a fool, realized that I had walked right past the table. There was an older gentleman sitting there in a white Salvation Army jacket and he smiled when I said that I was there to relieve him. He carefully explained what I was to do. For each piece of clothing donated the store would give one coupon for twenty percent off, up to four coupons. If the customer wanted to get a tax-return slip I was to fill it out for them but, when he was walking out he confided that “if someone asks for that paper, they aren’t really donating, they are selling their items.” And to that, I smiled, because I secretly felt the same way.
As I sat down, I knew I was in for a long four hours. The soft elevator music threatened to put me to sleep but was I pleasantly resurrected every time someone came up to my table with an armful of clothes. One woman told that she had donated to the Salvation Army every year for a long time, because when she was a young nurse they had often helped her with patients and their families. Another smiled as she handed me a bright pink-infused wardrobe and said “I tried to bring clothes for spring.”
At first it took me a moment to figure out why there were so many donations of four items, and why there were some sheepish faces along with them. These were women who, appeared to be, able to donate more than four but were unwilling to part with their items without a coupon. Others brought in small bags of clothing while two women walked through the door with large black garbage bags bulging to the brim. “I lost a lot of weight so I was able to give you all of these!” “Well, then it is a win-win situation for both of us.” She beamed back at me and happily accepted her four coupons. About an hour later she walked by and told me that she had bought some smaller sizes and thanked me for doing my part. What a great feeling, for both of us.
At the end of my shift, I had around one hundred pieces of clothing spilling out of the cardboard box next to my table. It was well worth it to listen to elevator music, watch the customers go by and have so many people comment on all of the good things that the Salvation Army does. I know one thing for sure, when Christmas rolls around this year I will definitely be giving some money to the bell-ringer that dutifully stands outside our Walmart. It takes an Army, not just of volunteers, but staff and everyone else that makes the cogs of the Salvation Army turn. And for a day, I was proud to be one of them.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: charity, Chile, choosing wisely, Forbes, fraud, Haiti, money, non-profit
Some days are busier than others.
When I started on this journey of giving, I knew that it would be difficult to physically volunteer everyday. Between work, volunteering, teaching yoga and my personal life I am pretty booked until, well, March 2011. So on the days that I cannot get out into the community I will donate a small sum of money to a nonprofit of my choosing.
Before I whipped out my credit card I did a little research online. I found a great article by Forbes on how to choose a charity wisely. They warned of fraudulent charities and those who might spend more on administrative work rather than their cause. Working with different non-profits over the years this wasn’t entirely new information, but I do feel saddened that it continues to be this way.
I clicked on a tab that said “most efficient large charities” and found one immediately that I liked. It is called “Heart to Heart” and they boast an impressive 98 % of money collected goes to the cause, only 2% towards the administrative side. Those are some impressive numbers! Right now they are focusing their efforts on the tragedies in Chile and Haiti, but they work all over the world, wherever there are people in need.
It pays to take some extra time for researching charities, I would be heartbroken knowing that my hard-earned dough had gone to a prankster rather than someone in need. I hope that more people will be inspired to donate money to a worthwhile cause, even if it is just a few bucks, the last few crumpled singles at the bottom of your purse that you are too embarrassed to take out. Someone out there wouldn’t be too embarrassed to accept them for a warm meal.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: grandparents, grieving, hospice, journey, loss, process, volunteer
When I began on this journey I thought it would be pretty simple to find work, say “hey, let me give you some of my time” and someone would gladly usher me in and put me to work. However when someone wants to volunteer in any facilities that cater to the elderly the circumstances change dramatically.
Today I went for an interview to volunteer for a hospice. The volunteer coordinator was exceedingly friendly and made me feel right at ease, despite the types of questions she was asking me. “Here we treat our volunteers as if they are staff, so they undergo an entry process that is very similar to them. “ When she asked whether I had suffered a great personal loss I said not yet, and asked if that would disqualify me. “No, we just want to know where you are in your process.” The process of loss has yet to begin for me, but I confided in her that I thought it would start soon, with my own parents.
After about an hour she handed me a folder thick with papers to bring back during the training period. In the interim she would run a background check on me, ask for a drug test and copies of all my IDs. I told her I was anxious to get started, and I wondered whether that made me appear too eager.
Hospice care is perhaps something that I am throwing myself into too early, but as someone who lost all of her grandparents before the age of one, I feel that I need this chance to not only interact with the elderly but help them during their own passing, as well as the families that support them. To be honest, I am a bit frightened by what I might see or hear, and the inevitability of one of my patients leaving while they are under my “care.” Maybe I want to get used to the process because I know that it will enter my own life sooner than I want it to. Of course, it is inevitable that this process occur but I am simply not ready to embrace it.
I will be grateful to the patients and families that allow me into their lives and homes.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: charitable, community, Habitat for Humanity, philanthropic, promise, smiles, TV, volunteer
The day started too early.
For some reason I was up by 6:30, an hour before I was supposed to wake up, three hours before I wanted to. As I lay there in bed I remembered that it was March 1st, and for a fleeting moment, my weaker side whispered “oh, don’t go and volunteer today. You have so many other things you could do in that time, like, oh, sit around and watch TV.”
But I couldn’t do that to myself. Once a promise has been made, I am known to try my hardest to keep it. So let me tell you about my charitable deed today.
In our city there are a few places called “ReStore.” They are places where people can drop off household items, even construction items to be sold and the profits go to support Habitat for Humanity. Did you know that every 21 minutes a house is completed somewhere in the world by Habitat? Amazing.
So I showed up for my “shift” in the middle of controlled chaos. After explaining that I was there just to volunteer, not to do “community hours”, meaning I’ve done something bad so the judge told me to be here time, I got not a few odd looks.
“So, are you, like, being philanthropic or something?” said the undergrad who had gotten a little too crazy at a basketball one night. I shrugged and said “something like that.”
Another volunteer did an impromptu dance when he met me. I didn’t know how to respond to that.
Jon, the man in charge, put me right to work with another volunteer moving doors from one side of the street to the store. Even though I am only 5’1″ and the other guy was about 6’0″, it was clear that Jon could care less that I was a)short and b) a woman; I was impressed by his egalitarianism at doling out directions.
Although I spent a considerable amount of time waiting for my next assignment, I was kept fairly busy. An older gentleman came in about an hour before I was scheduled to leave and bought about 100 cabinet doors, all of which had to be loaded into his truck. If I had known the amount of physical labor I would do that day, I surely wouldn’t have gone to Power Hour yoga right beforehand.
While it was apparent that most of the people who shopped there (and were regulars) were in the lower income-brackets, they were given the same amount of time and respect as the contractors who came in to find some deals for a new house or development they were working on.
At the end of the day, I am tired, a little sore, but bolstered by all of the smiles that were sent my way. I think I am going to really enjoy this coming year and have only started to understand how giving back to the community really is a wonderful thing to do, not only for myself but for the community at large.
