Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: community, hard launch, local, non-profit, Red Cross, volunteer, website
As a continuation of my last post, I met today with the Information Officer of a local non-profit to discuss a new project that she is launching to connect the community at large to the area’s sundry charities. As she spoke about it and showed me demos of their project I felt that same giddiness arising in me from yesterday. Although I don’t want to speak too much about it just yet until the hard launch, just know that this site will make giving easier and more specific to the charity or individuals that need it the most. It is a very exciting endeavor and I am fortunate to be a part of it.
On a side note, my background check passed (phew!) so I can now start signing up for courses to become a full-fledged Red Cross volunteer. I look forward to sharing those stories with you in the (near) future.
I would have written more but my cat refused to let me type in peace, the smart kitty she is, by walking across the keyboard several times causing me to type nonsense. It’s a darn good thing she is cute or otherwise, I might not be so agreeable…
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: business, community, development, humanity, loans that change lives, microloans, third-world countries, Whole Foods
I first heard about microloans at Whole Foods, of all places. There was a small sign on the credit card machine that briefly explained how microloans work to support business development and growth in many places around the world, predominately third-world countries.
It was amazing to me to think that my money could help a woman develop a business that would not only help her feed the members of her family, but to act as the glue that could hold together members of her community while working collectively towards its betterment. What an amazing gift!
After much research online I stumbled across kiva.org, a great organization whose motto is “loans that change lives.” Although I didn’t participate in a loan I did donate a small sum towards the organization as a whole. I would encourage others to visit the website and learn more about microloans, how even $25 goes a long way towards creating a better world for people, all around the world. Even if we never meet the people we are helping, there is a bond forged between the two parties that is unbreakable in its very strength of humanity.
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.
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