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For me, it’s volunteering with Travelers Assistance at our international airport. We can choose to be Go Guides, where we circulate through the airport looking for people who need help. Or we can staff one of our information desks. Great job for folks who like people interaction.
Once per month we have a special event for families with autistic children. We show them around the airport, including getting on a plane, meeting a pilot, and going through what the passengers experience prior to take off. The parents are very grateful for the dry run before they have to fly with their children.
To volunteer we go through 8 4-hour shifts of training, and undergo a background check. We get badges to work in the secure area, and we’re expected to volunteer 100 hours/year.
When I fly I look for volunteers at other airports and chat with them. I don’t know if most airports use volunteers in this capacity or not. It’s something to consider if you live close to an airport and enjoy meeting people.
Mine is with Friends of the library here in town. I've always been a literacy advocate. The money our group raises purchases things our town can't afford for the library. In the past year alone, we purchased a new sofa and 24 stacking chairs, in addition to providing funds for programs such as summer reading, Polar Express night (the book is read plus gift bags, cookies, and cocoa to every child) and back to school (every child gets a backpack stuffed with supplies).
We raise money to help with the yearly programs. Buy books, provide refreshments for the kids during summer reading.
Our small town just built a new library, but we still have to help - our town isn't rich. We purchased kitchen equipment since we also have a community room. Over head projector and screen. Things like that. Very rewarding/
We also do the back to school thing and buy items on the lists for the elementary.
My big volunteer gig is a 4-hour shift on Thursdays at the Lounge, which is our local senior center. It's a fun thing to do, plus I get free membership and a few other perks.
We have a Park-to-Park bike ride coming up, and I'm volunteering to hand out refreshments at one of the stop along the way. It's basically a big party with friends of mine, plus all the oranges and bananas I might want, LOL.
I help put out a "What's Happening This Week" newsletter that goes out every Monday. I benefit from it because I wanted to know all these things myself. It's fun to get together with the people who help put it out, and sometimes we do some of the events together. And I've gotten some public recognition and been asked to be a speaker because of it, so it strokes the ego.
I can't say enough good things about the people who volunteered at my fire station. Not only was their help invaluable, but they seemed to truly enjoy it. I've been to some great parties with that group, and last year I went to a wedding of two of the volunteers who hooked up that way, which was especially fun. And by handling tasks and raising money, they freed up the firefighters to do their job of saving lives. Thank you volunteers, thank you thank you thank you!
I can't say enough good things about the people who volunteered at my fire station. Not only was their help invaluable, but they seemed to truly enjoy it. I've been to some great parties with that group, and last year I went to a wedding of two of the volunteers who hooked up that way, which was especially fun.
I lucked out with a great volunteer job with the AZ Attorney General's office twice a month, at the Prescott Library. It's a satellite office (no office, just a room) and residents come in with all sorts of scams, crazy situations, and many other unusual problems. I can help them with a complaint form, several brochures, the website, and information about services in the area. In some cases, the questions are so difficult I have to refer them to the Phx office. But alot of discussion, mostly with seniors and elderly, takes place and I enjoy meeting so many different people. I received training for this and have been doing it for nearly 2 years. It fits in perfectly with my social work background.
I go on walks every day, 3 to 4 miles. I carry a suction cup picker and a couple of plastic bags and pick up garbage. I always get at least one bag full, sometimes two.
They did all sorts of things! The biggest thing is they run an assortment of fundraising events. Casino night, pancake breakfasts, a 10K, birthday parties at the fire station, Oktoberfests. Some people helped with PR, some were photographers who went on the trucks (there's a reason this is a service, but it's a long explanation), some helped with an assortment of office needs. Some came in and cooked, which was a real blessing especially after certain emergencies. One even drove a canteen to emergency sites. Can't tell you how great that was. We had a volunteer who enjoyed grant writing and boy was he a help. One of my jobs was to go to the schools or talk to scout troops, and I had a few volunteers who sometimes came along. School kids also love to send firefighters drawings and poems. We loved this, but never had the time to display them, especially since new ones have to keep being put up. A volunteer did this and even wrote thank you notes to the kids. We had a team of chaplains who helped victims with counselling or connecting them to assistance as needed. Sometimes the best help is to spread the word about fire safety or fundraising events. When we had a blizzard, volunteers did an amazing job contacting all the neighborhood social media sites and spreading the word that people needed to dig out their fire hydrants.
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