I've been wanting to volunteer to do something but wasn't quite sure what I could do and didn't think that there would be any opportunities in this small, rural area. I was surprised.

If you can't volunteer due to circumstances, what would you most like to help with? Or if you do, what do you do?

-- Renee (justme@justme.org), February 01, 2001

Answers

I get involved with major events taking place in the city (probably left over enthusiasm from a previous job in sport marketing). There’s so much behind the scenes work required to pull these things off successfully. Events like New Year’s Eve celebrations, concerts in the park, museum exhibitions, winter festivals – anything where families can come and enjoy themselves.

-- Terry (fluff@cuttingthroughfluff.com), February 01, 2001.

I volunteer at the soup kitchen of a church in my neighborhood - I live in a big city, where there are lots of volunteer opportunities, and decided on the soup kitchen because I have always fed homeless people in my neighborhood - I won't give them $$, but I will buy them food. I enjoy it immensely but am considering some other type of volunteering - maybe a shelter for women/children.

-- Kim Brown (sassylou184@yahoo.com), February 01, 2001.

Terry - that is so cool. I've thought about doing that but each town that I'd be interested in helping already has a full committee for all of it. I actually happen to do one of the town's websites so I end up going to take pictures and stuff like that.

Kim - I've tentatively had it in my mind to help with women/children in a shelter....I know I'd be heart broken and HAVE to do something then. I don't even know if this place has anything like that. I kind of doubt it. I'll have to find that out also.

-- Renee (renee@gardengeekgirl.com), February 01, 2001.

Hopefully I will do volunteer work at a branch library near where I live. Notifying by phone when a reserved book is ready to be picked up or has been sent in by another library(requested books are searched for and ordered in from all over the state. I'll have to take my own amplified phone and handset in with me. Still on the waiting list. Volunteer work ? With an extended family large as mine -- I serve my time, gladly.

-- Denver doug (ioni@webtv.net), February 01, 2001.

Does doing 2 church web pages and 1 friends business site and 1 new million moms group web page count?

-- Bonnie (texasbonnie1@yahoo.com), February 02, 2001.

I have in the past. I helped out an animal rescue group that came to the local PetsMart. Playing with and walking the animals, and cleaning up after them. Talking to the people who came to look at them. But since I moved and became pregnant and now have a toddler, no I don't do any volunteer work. But we give large chunks of money to the Denver Rescue Mission for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They claim only $1.49 feeds one person so we must feed quite a few, and that feels good. We also "adopt" people from the Giving Tree at my husband's work and buy them presents for the holidays. Once my daughter is older I would like to volunteer with animal rescue again or do foster care for homeless animals.

-- Amethyst (honeybee@journalist.com), February 02, 2001.

I'm a (completely unpaid) Director with a non profit group set up to restore a 90 year old theatre. This is not what earns me a crust, but with all that's involved, if it was paid, it could definitely be a job! I tend to attend meetings with local groups, schmooze and basically attend all the day time stuff that the other directors can't go to. It's a long term project, the theatre closed in 1974, and had a small hole in the roof that is now a large hole, lots of internal water damage and a partially rotted truss. We're talking 8- 10 years and probably a million or two to get it back to 1950's glory. Website if anyone wants a look at the place.

I also support animal charities with money, and locally with donations of food, newspapers, blankets, old clothes, whatever is on their wishlist. I can't bring myself to volunteer, cause I'm a big softie, and our local shelter doesn't have a no-kill policy. I think I'd be in tears too many times, and get too attached to animals that may end up being euthanised. If the shelter was no-kill, I could do that, I could cope with abused animals and litter detail and all the rest, I just couldn't deal with caring for an animal week after week and then finding it gone, for space and other limitations.

-- Amanda Page (amanda@amandasprecipice.com), February 02, 2001.

I volunteer at a women's center helping them staff the phone lines (crisis, support and resource calls) and also at a legal clinic which serves the homeless. I am really busy with lots of other commitments but those are two very important parts of my we

-- Skye Reed (skyereed@whale-mail.com), February 03, 2001.

Well don't I feel lazy for waiting so long to volunteer for SOMEthing. Y'all are awesome.

-- Renee (renee@gardengeekgirl.com), February 04, 2001.

I don't volunteer, but I've looked into it. There's a website for online-volunteering called netaid.org. You volunteer your computer-skills to what I guess are worthwhile organization.

I'm not 'computer-literate' enough to be of much help to them, but it seems like an interesting way to go.

Kudos to all you volunteers.

-- Blandings (Blandings@hotmail.com), February 20, 2001.