A helping hand

Volunteering is a way of life for me. It is part of the fabric of my days, so much so that I hardly notice. And it has been that way for as long as I can remember.

When I was a Sophomore in high school, I spent the summer as a volunteer in Project Hands, a day camp for special needs children. I was partnered with a wonderful young girl with Down’s syndrome, and we spent the summer learning and doing new thing.

When I was between my senior year in high school and my freshman year in college, I went to Kentucky and worked at a day camp for some of the rural children in need. I LOVED it.

I was a volunteer at the medical office in college, and there, I was encouraged to become an EMT, which led to a paid position there.

As a rape crisis advocate during the last year I was in school, I held hands with young women at their darkest moments. I still pray for them.

I served as a Peace Corps volunteer when I finished college, and traveled to Guatemala as a health extensionist. I dug latrines, vaccinated children, and learned so much from the people I shared my time with. I am still in awe of the young boy who made a top for me from a bit of wood and an old nail, then delighted in teaching me how to make it spin…

Now I am a Cub Scout Den Leader. I try to share experiences with the eight boys in my charge that will make them better for their time with me. And I tap the wonder that are my scout parents and grandparents- what an amazing group of individuals. My son enjoys the volunteer events the pack takes part in. The “River Clean-Up” in the cold rain was a big hit. Racking leaves for an elderly woman as part of RASKELS inspired him to rake our yard. We will be making radios from kits in the next few weeks. (I tapped my favorite electrical engineer for that one…)

Volunteering a helping hand is a gift I keep giving myself. It reminds me to think beyond the here and now of my little part of the world.