Make a Difference in the World...
From the Comfort of Home!
Have you ever wanted to be in two places at once – helping out a good cause, for instance, but doing so without leaving the comfort of your living room? A few years ago, our friend Mary wanted to serve others, but says, “I didn’t want to run around…I didn’t want to take time away from my husband.”
A lifelong needleworker who started crocheting rag rugs at age 10, Mary thought about all the yarn she had and decided she could make afghans for new mothers in need. Through her church, she learned about a local charity called Stitches for Life and found her niche. If you, too, want to be in the swing of things and have time or a talent to share, there is likely a way to help from your own home.
Mary now makes lap quilts as well as baby afghans. “Stitches for Life brings me a lot of supplies,” says Mary. “They also pick up the finished work, which makes it really easy for me.”
She uses a table in her family room to plan out her work, often doing granny squares while she watches TV. “It’s a pickup and set down activity,” says Mary, who added that her volunteer work is “very creative.” “I’m not even done with the afghan I’m working on now, and I’m already thinking about colors for the next one,” she says. As she plans, she keeps the recipients in mind. “For veterans, I’ll use red, white, and blue.”
While Mary stitches away, her husband Jim also volunteers by growing extra vegetables in their backyard garden and donating them to the local food pantry. Most food pantries will be happy to send someone to pick up donated produce. Opportunities to make a difference are almost everywhere you look, and certainly as close as your telephone. Call your favorite local charity. They may be looking for a volunteer to stuff and label envelopes and will be happy to deliver them, ready to spread out on your dining room table. They may also need someone to recruit other helpers or arrange pickups by phone. Your neighborhood elementary school might need helping hands to get projects ready for their classes.
If you like using a computer, limitless opportunities are at your fingertips. “There are many ways to get involved without having to leave your home or make a time commitment,” says Victoria Pacchiana, a spokesperson for VolunteerMatch. This nonprofit organization enables “good people and good causes” to connect through a web site, www.volunteermatch.org. At any time, you can find a variety of volunteer opportunities that can be accomplished at home, for example, doing research for a historical society, writing a grant proposal, or translating a newsletter into another language. Your hobby may lead you to an enjoyable volunteer project. Our bird-watching friend Chris Pistole says you can combine this popular hobby with public service – right in your own backyard. He simply counts the birds he sees and reports his findings.
As the education director of the Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center in Joplin, MO, Chris says, “It’s valuable for people at home – or citizen scientists – to participate, because they become the eyes and ears of professionals who can’t be out in the field all the time.” You need only identify some of the more common species, according to this enthusiastic birder. Some people can tell just by hearing a bird’s song. Chris reports his sightings using an Internet website, but adds that you can also record them on a paper form for mailing.
Do you like to recycle? In some communities, discarded children’s books from the library find new life, when a willing hand is extended to apply a special “Take This Book Home” label. The books are donated to local laundromats, where parents can read to their children while they wait or take the books with them. Likewise, used greeting cards can be made new again. If you’re handy with a scissors, you can help by cutting off the front covers. Some charities affix them to clean paper with a special message, and redistribute the “new” cards to the needy.
If you enjoy the telephone, your services may be needed by civic organizations that rely on volunteers to provide “telephone reassurance” – checking on individuals by phone. For example, you may be needed to call latchkey children to make sure they arrive home safely after school. Volunteers also call individuals who have trouble getting around. A warm and friendly chat can be just the thing to make the day of both people on the line! There are no limits to volunteering, and the satisfaction can be boundless, too. Our crocheting friend Mary can’t help feeling that her efforts come back to her multifold. “It’s been a blessing to me, because it enables me to do something for other people,” she says. “It seems that I get more out of it than they do! It’s the satisfaction of the creative process and then giving it away.”