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| Volunteering
With Your Family |
If you are like most people, there are simply too
few hours in a day. You have many demands on your time, from doing what your
boss wants to doing what your children want. And with all that is already
filling your schedule, you can't see how you can become a volunteer, even if
you want to help solve community problems.
Here's a unique idea that has many
benefits:
become a volunteer along with some or all of your family
members! Family volunteering can be done by the whole family together or by one
parent and one child or teenager as a special "twosome" project. Or it can be
several siblings together.
It can
involve both parents or one parent and an extended family member such as a
grandparent or aunt/uncle. The mix-and-match possibilities are endless.
The agency receiving your
volunteer services benefits by having more helpers at one time. If you
volunteer on a regular schedule and occasionally a family member cannot come
one week, there are others to help fill in.
What do you gain by volunteering together as a
family ?
First of all, you assure
that elusive but much-sought goal of "quality time" with each other. You share
a common bond while doing something worthwhile for others. You get to know your
children in new ways, and vice versa.
The process of demonstrating skills and learning
new ones gives both age levels the chance to respect one another, work together
towards the same goals -- and have something to talk about all week !
If you are already active as a
volunteer somewhere, you can continue your participation with less guilt about
the time you spend away from your family. Now you'll be with them -- and the
organizations you care about will receive even more volunteer help !
Choosing a Family
Volunteer Project ?
Call a family
meeting and take time to consider this whole idea.
What causes interest you ?
Allow everyone to suggest a community problem of
concern to him or her. If some of the ideas intrigue the whole family, start
exploring what organizations in your community are already working on these.
Use the Yellow Pages, go to the
library, visit the Volunteer Center. Also consider what types of work everyone
wants to do.
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