[GypsySoul22]

I know New Englanders and especially Vermonters 'feel the call' to help out. Do any of you volunteer? If so, what sort of volunteering do you do?

I'm doing it while looking for a full time job. I may also go to another place and help out. The more connections in the area, the better, right? Plus I like being useful...

It's better than crabbing about the weather..right?

Anyone else?

[mustmove]

UGGGH I volunteer. Lots of folks volunteer. My take is that there is so much volunteerism in VT because there are a lot of families up here wherein one partner is unemployed/underemployed and volunteering fills their time. I don't have a problem with volunteer work, I do have a problem with a business environment that is so negative that industrious folks that would in other cases be out creating wealth are volunteering. In case you can't tell I'm in the 'VT is taxing a ride on the train to hell' camp. I'll escape soon enough. Good luck.

[Sherylcatmom]

Oooh! Thank you for asking about volunteering, which is one of my very favorite subjects.

My husband and I volunteer constantly. We work hard and we love our work, but I wouldn't feel complete without volunteering. I don't have hobbies; I have causes! When I read these words from the Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist-of-activists Wangari Maathai, I knew she was describing why I volunteer:

I just have something inside me that tells me that there is a problem and I have got to do something about it. I think that is what I would call the God in me. It must be this voice that is telling me to do something, and I am sure it is the same voice that is speaking to everybody on this planet.

Wangari Maathai quoted in an interview with The Independent/UK

My formal & informal volunteer roles are/have been . . .

• New England Regional Team Leader, a virtual volunteer position with the Best Friends Network: I recruit, train, & support other animal advocacy volunteers; manage content on interactive websites; & work with staff of Best Friends Animal Society, an organization I've supported for many years and with whom I volunteered for Gulf Coast animal rescue after the hurricanes
• Reading mentor with Everybody Wins: I've been reading with the same student every week since she was in 3rd grade. Now she's in 6th grade and will age out of the program at the end of this year
• Animal advocate-at-large: Connecting people & organizations with resources to help animals in their families & communities; doing humane education everywhere, all the time
• Maintaining close touch with my local, state, and federal legislators and with the organizations working for the issues of my heart & soul: animals, the environment, social justice, connected communities & local systems, and ending corporate domination
• Helping the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, which led to a part-time job I now have as a Field Organizer with this organization
• Fund raising, recruiting volunteers, & working at events for the Rutland County Humane Society, Brandon Feral Cat Assistance Program (FCAP), and Spay Education
• For two years, I served on the (very active) board of directors of the Institute for Humane Education, which I continue to volunteer with
• For a time, I volunteered very actively with the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS), volunteering in their Boston office & setting up a Vermont speaking tour for NEAVS's President/Executive Director. I continue to support NEAVS
• For three years, I coordinated an independent regional wellness fair in Rutland
• I was a Rotarian for a few years, which was a wonderful way of being involved in the community

In the next few years, I plan go through hospice volunteer training and become active as a hospice volunteer & offer massage therapy for that population, their families, and their caregivers. (I'm a professional massage therapist.)

Was that more than you wanted to know? :-)

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

The more connections in the area, the better, right? Plus I like being useful...

Yes! These are great reasons to volunteer, and led to my getting at least two jobs.

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

It's better than crabbing about the weather..right?

Darn tootin'! And I like the weather. Well, I did until it got too slippery for me to walk everywhere. I don't love that. But it shall pass.

[68vette]

I guess you can call what I do volunteeing. I donate my Platelets every two week at the Red Cross. It only takes a few hours every two weeks and you give one of the greatest gifts anyone could ever give. I work in critical care and whenever I see a critically ill patient getting platelets I think to myself that these platelets could be mine that are helping to save this persons life. I am also on the national bone marrow donor directory. I don't feel that volunteering is unique to Vermont. No matter where I have lived I have always done some type of volunteer work as well as the millions throughout our great nation.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

^^ Sheryl, I volunteer with hospice. It's good work, good people.

I will be getting into some critter volunteer work later. Love the furry people.

[GypsySoul22]

MustMove...I have to agree with you a bit. I am currently looking for a job and I always read our local paper--there's a volunteer section that is LARGER than the 'paying jobs' section. I found it a bit odd at first.


Sherylcatmom--you're a busy lady! I am hoping to make some connections through my volunteering.

68vette--of course you're volunteering...you are saving lives...!

Dwatted Wabbit--special people like you make the final days of a family better.

[seanpecor]

Part of our planned return to Vermont is to simplify our lives and make more room for volunteering. I was on the founding committee for our regional chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist Program but I had to exit due to time constraints. Down here, managing my internet company and taking care of a 128 acre horse farm don't leave much time for volunteer efforts. When I get up there I plan on being more active in environmental and business causes.

Sean

[bluegreen.laurel]

I am looking to possibly move to Brattleboro, Vermont, and still live in Arkansas. I'm not sure if I count or not, as you directed your question to New Englanders. But volunteering is important to me, and I will do it wherever I live. I volunteer in prisons. Believe it or not, I find it rewarding and I've learned quite a bit in the 10-plus years I have done it. I provide alternative religious services. I don't suggest knocking on the doors of penitentiaries unless you have a strong calling for it. But I can say that volunteering for something you feel in your heart strongly is one of the most rewarding contributions you can make in this life...

Laurel

[GrnMtnFire]

I am a firefighter....and a former EMT (and will be again). The hours I put in are endless....