Volunteer work: cause & effect

[Selkie]

I used to volunteer as a teaching assistant with our County's ESL program. I really enjoyed it, but unfortunately, work/home put too many demands on my time to continue with it.

I'm going to try to volunteer again, once I can find a work assignment closer to home (the commute eats more than an hour of "me" time a day). I'm thinking about getting one or both of my goldens involved as a therapy dog. They both would be marvelous at it, once I teach them better manners!

[maillotpois]

We've been coaching for Team in Training since 2001. I've been involved with TNT at various levels since 1999. It's a big time commitment and TNT provides training for its coaches, so they take it all as seriously as we do. For the centuries we coached it was 1/2 day to 3/4 day every other Saturday for 5 months. Now that we coach Death Ride (since 2006) it's a 6 month training and the long rides pretty much eat up our entire Saturday. Plus since I'm the organizational/training wing of it, the ride training plan, ride plans, working with other volunteers, interaction with TNT adds probably 2 - 3 hours a week on top of the coaching end of it and begins about 6 - 8 weeks before our first ride. This year I am in charge of 2 combined teams which stretch out across the Bay Area. I think I have everyone's name down.

It's a lot of fun and I love seeing people do something new that they never thought they could do before.

I've also been on legal association boards and volunteer time to court alternative dispute resolution programs as part of my job. But the cycling volunteering is more fun.

I think it's really important, especially in this time of relative crisis, that we pull together and do SOMETHING beyond that for which we get money, to make our world just a bit better.

[andtckrtoo]

I volunteered to help with Hurricane Katrina with the Red Cross. That was an experience. I spent 10 days in Louisiana at a shelter with people from the Lower 9th Ward. I learned so much about the human spirit (both the good and the bad). It was simply amazing.

I also have done Search and Rescue work with the local Sheriff's office and trained a search dog (Tucker, where my user name - And Tucker Too - comes from). I quit when Tucker was struck by a car. I didn't have the heart to continue with him gone. He was a very special dog.

Now I just raise funds for cancer awareness with my annual ride and through other activities.

[derailed]

I spend time as a docent at a museum. It's very rewarding to have people come in to share their memories from childhood with us and with their families. I feel that my time there has given me a real connection with the community.

[Eden]

I've been volunteering with our local Humane Society for about 2.5 years now. Volunteers come and go so much in the program that I work in, that I am a really long timer....

We do lots of little things with the team too - we have an Adopt - a - Road, we help the local cycling club with teach children to ride days, staff booths for the MS Society.

[nancielle]

Been volunteering for various things since high school. At that time the high school I attended had a Community Service program that juniors and seniors participated in.

Now I volunteer with a local AIDS program and also do community work around chemical dependency recovery.