Volunteering

[talentdeficit]

i volunteer at one of the largest stables in my area. mostly i exercise and groom the horses of spoilt rich girls too lazy to visit their animals on a regular basis, but i also help out teaching underpriveleged children how to ride. i used to lead those classes, but my availability and the class schedules don't line up currently.

i also volunteer with an organization that help newly relocated mexican immigrants acclimate. mostly i answer phones and answer questions they have.

[lapoker17]

i coached a hoops team of 5th and 6th graders. it was awesome even though there were stupid rules about balancing playing time. i'm looking for another team right now.

currently i walk dogs for a local animal shelter and love it.

also, in case anyone missed it, i bought a homeless guy a calzone last night. i also offered to get him a drink, but he didn't want one.

[PITTM]

coaching youth sports is amazing. my friend and i coached a 7th/8th grade girls basketball team with his little sister on it. she is like ultra 3 point master in HS now.

[kidcolin]

man.. I want to coach basketball so bad.

lapoker,

those rules are pretty cool for the 5th graders who suck at basketball. Step up the age rankings if you have a problem with this.

talent,

Your post reminds me.. one trip that all my volunteers raved about two years in a row was a hippotherapy treatment center in Arkansas. I think they've got them all over the place. Here's a description of what hippotherapy is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippotherapy

They work with kids with problems ranging from autism to down syndrome to cerebral palsy. A lot of these places can use some help with maintaining the stable, walking with the kid on horseback.. I never did it but it sounds pretty cool. Plus, let's face it, retarded kids on horses is high comedy.

[lapoker17]

[ QUOTE ]

lapoker,

those rules are pretty cool for the 5th graders who suck at basketball. Step up the age rankings if you have a problem with this.


[/ QUOTE ]

oh, i should've clarified that this was BOYS basketball, not GIRLS basketball.

[JaBlue]

some girl handing out fliers on campus asked me if I wanted to volunteer and got ready to give me one. i said "NO WAY!"

I would be willing to volunteer as a big brother, coach, or assistant coach though.

[theBruiser500]

i always thought it was phony to do volunteer work (as a poker player at least) because i could just play poker and then donate the money and do a lot more good. however i had a conversation with a cab driver in guatemala, it was hard to understand him because despite saying "despacio por favor" many times he was incensed. there was an earthquake a few years ago that ruined a lot of mayans sh.it and there was a lot of international aid given to the country but according to him none of it reached people in need, corrupt government took it all. he said that what they needed and wanted was not money but people to come and volunteer.

i tried to do big brothers program they wouldn't let me. i did work for Peace Action or FreezeAction or something like that in Santa Barbara for 2 weeks. it was paid, i told them not to pay me but he said i was on the payroll already anyway then i lost the check. anyway, went door to door raising money was extremely tiring. also the umass antiwar coalition, it's different type of volunteer work but related. the people i met in those activities were smart and interesting people i liked them a lot.

[Osprey]

I tried tutoring kids a couple of times in college, once or twice a week, can't say I really liked it- even though I was with the same kid for months, never really felt any connection or progress. I wouldn't try that again, personally.

[Golden_Rhino]

I currently volunteer at a high school. I started doing it because I needed volunteer hours for teachers college, but I have since found myself going above and beyond because I love it.

My 'official' duty is to help out in class. That is a ton of fun, but I do that so I can log enough hours to get into teachers college.

I have started an essay help program at the school. Twice a week I am available to proof read essays, help brainstorm ideas, and run workshops. There is no gain for me there, aside from the good feeling I get from helping the kids.

[MicroBob]

I haven't done much volunteering but it's something I seem to always be thinking about.
Either coaching little-league soccer or chess for kids or something. Or even tutoring math or reading.
I seem to have a perpetual mind-set of "I'll definitely get to that at some point" but I just never do.


Just returned from trip to Peru.
My GF and I stayed a few days with her aunt who is a nun at a monestary that runs a gentlemen's nursing-home for those who have nowhere else to go.

10 sisters, most in their 70's, taking care of 270 elderly men. They have some assistants and some volunteers but mostly it's just the sisters.
That's a lot of bathing them, cooking, washing and folding sheets/towels, etc.

Her aunt is 76 and has been doing this kind of work for 50+ years in various countries. Over 10 yrs at this location I think.
I was pretty awe-struck. GF was too and has thoughts of perhaps going back for a month or longer to volunteer.


I have no idea if it's coincidence or not. But her aunt seemed one of the more genuinely content people one could ever hope to meet. Genuinely excited and inspired and proud by the work she was doing.
She also seemed to be in awesome shape for someone her age.
On more than one occasion she would realize she was late for something and would take off in a pretty fast sprint down the hall-way (in the full nun-outfit of course).

I wouldn't be the first to observe that such work truly is good for the soul and the body. And it certainly seemed so in her aunt's case.