melair

In my teenage years, I did a lot of volunteering through church, mostly in the realm of hungry/homeless outreach.  Years of this made me both cynical and more fiscally conservative (sorry, it’s true).  So, as an adult, more of my volunteer outreach was directed at children, who don’t know any better and the elderly, who don’t care anymore.  This proved to be much more rewarding, although I always kept a toe in the water approach.  It’s pretty hard choosing the right volunteer project for myself.  I work full time which means I can’t spend multiple days (or even a full day) “giving back” to the community.  Instead, I am giving back to my mortgage lender, my cell phone company, my AMEX card.  You know.

When we moved here I felt like because I work from home and my schedule is more flexible it would be a perfect opportunity to find some ways to get involved and help others.  I was hard pressed to find any comprehensive list of opportunities though.  In Atlanta, Hand on Atlanta mans a site where local organizations can post opportunities based on geography, areas of services, etc.  It’s embarrassingly easy to find those in need.  I couldn’t find anything like that here.  I don’t know if it’s because there are plenty of rich, bored housewives trying to earn their wings or if there is just not a centrally localized venue for this kind of endeavor.  I went to an orientation once for The American Cancer Society since living here, but they had little need for volunteers.  They had so many staff members I almost felt like they should be embarrassed to ask.  The projects they had available couldn’t even work with my flexible schedule.  But I decided I’d try another Google search a few months ago and voila!  http://www.volunteercenter.org/

I expressed interest in one project that would have me working with girls and got a call from Girl’s Inc.  They had me at the tag line: “Inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold.”  Who better to teach girls the attributes I so clearly embody   And so I went to a couple of orientations, learned a little about the summer programs offered and now I volunteer on Monday evenings with the elementary school girls and Wednesday mornings with the Eureka program (middle school girls) getting them signed in for the day. I am required to put in 3 hours a week, which seemed like a lot at first, but after my first week I’m ready to do more.  Problem is, I’m in sales, my numbers are at an all time low, so I’m stuck at my computer more, not to mention I have to be ready to take calls and meetings whenever anyone calls or want to meet <sigh>.  Anyway, I’ll do what I can for now and hopefully sales will improve and I’ll have more free time again.

I know it’s tiny, but that is me in the middle, holding the sign.  So bold of me!

So far I don’t think I’ve inspired anyone to do anything.  I inspired some swinging on the monkey bars and taught someone to jump rope.  I also helped a girl perfect her free throw.  Which is entirely hilarious because my free throw average is probably something like 30%.  Well, you know what they say…those who can’t do, teach.  Although I don’t normally believe that, it definitely applies here.  But, it is a lot of fun.  I pretty much feel like I still think like a kid a lot, for better or for worse.  So, most days I go there I feel more comfortable than I do being around grown ups.  Maybe I’m not the one who is truly inspiring them, but rather they are truly inspiring me.