The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and Remembrance is just five weeks away, on Jan. 20, 2014. Make plans today to volunteer in your community, or to host or attend America’s Sunday Suppers, gatherings designed to bring people together to share a meal, talk about critical issues and discuss ways people can unite to meet urgent local needs.
Visit Points of Light on Facebook to find a volunteer opportunity near you, download a project toolkit, or pledge to host an America’s Sunday Supper in your neighborhood.
Through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, Points of Light is supporting eight signature projects with these outstanding nonprofit organizations: Global Citizen (Philadelphia); Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (nationwide); HandsOn Broward (Broward County, Fla.); United Way of Greater St. Louis (St. Louis); Volunteer Center of Greensboro (Greensboro, N.C.); HandsOn Atlanta (Atlanta); United Way HandsOn Suncoast (Tampa, Fla.); and the National Alliance of Faith and Justice (nationwide).
This post is by David Bulmer, CEO of Hands On London – part of the HandsOn Network, Points of Light’s global network of volunteer centers.
David Bulmer
Living in London, and coming from the north of England, I have seen first hand how recent years have been difficult across the U.K., with rising levels of poverty and homelessness, public services being cut back or closed and unemployment becoming a major issue.
The charity sector is responding with the opening and expansion of food banks, job search groups, community centers, homeless shelters and programs aiming to get people back to school, work and a stable place to live. These initiatives are staffed, in whole or in part, by hard-working and dedicated volunteers, and I have been privileged to work with many of those based in and around the capital since joining Hands On London.
Charities in the U.K., and those in the voluntary sector in particular, are alive with ideas, activity and brilliant people, and it’s a pleasure to have your work life be part of that. We are seeing real change as many adults and young people are starting to realize that charities need money, but they also need time, human resources and skills.
I still come across many people in London, however, who think volunteering is either something that young people do when they’re in school to earn credit, or something that has to be done to make you look or feel like a good person.
While lots of people in the U.K. now recognize that volunteering can (and should!) be a fun, productive and rewarding use of everyone’s spare time, there are still those who remain to be convinced.
I think part of the job of everyone at Hands On London is to be an ambassador for volunteering itself, not just for the charities we partner with, the work we do and the changes we make, but for the simple act of giving your time to someone who needs it, and enjoying yourself while doing so.
When we take corporate groups to clear the Lady’s Lake at Battersea Park, and everyone gets their waders on, splashes about in the water and has a great time, one of the things we hear most often is, “That was so much fun, it didn’t even feel like volunteering!”
In a strange way, that’s the biggest compliment I think we can get as part of the voluntary sector; the activities we organize shouldn’t feel onerous or trying, they should be challenging, engaging and fun.
My aim for the coming year is to keep spreading the message that volunteering is something everyone can get involved in, something everyone can contribute to and something everyone can enjoy, and to keep growing the numbers of volunteers we work with and charity partners we serve.
Three Easy Ways Your Family Can Give Joy This Season
Help us get more than 100,000 toys to kids in need this season. Here are just three ways you can make your acts of giving count even more givejoy.generationOn.org:
Download a card to send to a child battling illness.
Pledge to do a family volunteer project – or tell us about one you’re already doing!
Tell others by sharing our celebrity Joy Makers video on facebook and twitter.
Volunteering at a psychiatric hospital can be challenging, even unsettling. New volunteers can get overwhelmed by stares from excited patients or abrupt changes in a patient’s behavior.
Catherine Chua, center, enjoys helping
hospital volunteers.
As a volunteer manager and a former psychiatric nurse with 40 years of experience, Catherine Chua knows how to put both patients and volunteers at ease.
“Being a volunteer manager enables me to pursue my passion in helping these patients through more meaningful and fulfilling ways,” says Chua, who since 2010 has worked as a volunteer manager at the Institute of Mental Health, a hospital in Singapore, maintaining a close relationship with Singapore Cares, a HandsOn Networkmember.
Part of Chua’s job is to help people have positive volunteering experiences, so they want to return. Chua always conducts briefings and debriefings for volunteers’ first sessions, so they can have a better understanding of the patients and safety issues. She also observes the interactions between volunteers and patients so that she can offer prompt assistance or guidance when issues arise.
Managing expectations is key. The expectations of a volunteer may differ from those of a patient or the hospital – which can lead to conflict or disappointment. Chua also looks into the personal development of the volunteers by organizing talks or seminars for them. She invites them to annual events, such as the Volunteers’ Retreat and Volunteers’ Appreciation Day, which allow them to interact with fellow volunteers.
Though the job is demanding at times, Chua says she’s gratified when she sees volunteers reaching out to patients with genuine interest.
“Stigmatization against people with mental illness is a common reality in our society,” she says. “It affects not only them and their loved ones, but even those who are working or helping them. It is heartening to know that volunteers sincerely want to care for these people. This action in itself is powerful as it signifies societal acceptance for the patients, which they greatly need.”
President George H. W. Bush Recalls Nelson Mandela’s Vision, Wisdom and Devotion
This week, shortly before Nelson Mandela’s death, President George H. W. Bush, Points of Light’s founder, praised the South African leader for his “grace and dignity.”
Bush, the first American president to host Mandela at the White House, recalled for the Huffington Post his memories of meeting Mandela. Bush wrote, “We talked about how we shared the goal of true democracy and dismantling, once and for all, the vestiges of apartheid – a system that based the rights and freedoms of citizenship on the color of one’s skin.”
The Civic 50 sets the standard for corporate civic engagement nationwide and creates a roadmap for S&P 500 companies seeking to best use their time, talent and resources to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business.
Please take a moment to celebrate these companies for their great and continued efforts. And as the holidays approach, I hope you’ll put your money where your values are and use your purchasing power to support all the companies that are doing great work in their communities.
Festive, Active and Yummy – Keep Volunteering Fun for Your Family
This post is by Ann Saylor, a mother of three who blogs regularly for MommySecrets and TheAssetEdge. She and her family participated in Family Volunteer Day, Nov. 23.
The Saylor children, from left, Brendan, Daniel and Anna Kate,
pack toys to be distributed to kids in need.
My husband Dan and I are training our children to serve others thoughtfully by making it a priority to serve together. With our children being ages 11, 8 and 7, it’s challenging to find a place to serve together in our rural area, so we have worked to design service projects that we can do as a family. And the projects have happened in many shapes and sizes over the years!
We’ve done small projects, like helping with invitations, food and setup for a neighborhood party. We’ve done fun projects like a play-a-thon, for which we partnered with Hasbro to raise money for temporary housing for families displaced by Haiti’s earthquake.
We’ve done holiday projects, like our trick-or-treat charity bike parade. We decorated our bikes in Halloween style, and went “trick-or-treating” to collect healthy snacks to share with school children in need.
We’ve done big projects, like hosting a Rockin’ Readers Literacy initiative at our elementary school. We’ve done long-term projects, like helping at a mobile food pantry to collect, sort and distribute an entire semi-truck of food to needy families in our community.
We’ve done yummy projects, like partnering with Cupcake Kids to raise $300 for imprisoned children in Africa. We’ve done active projects, like the Pleasant View Kids Triathlon, where the children challenged their friends to complete a triathlon over the course of the summer.
It doesn’t have to take a lot of extra time. Find out what your kids love, and create volunteer projects that match with their interests, skills and passions. Eleven-year-old Daniel especially enjoys projects where he can organize. Eight-year-old Brendan loves raising money to give to favorite causes. Seven-year old Anna Kate loves projects related to arts and crafts. I enjoy finding out more about my children as we volunteer together.
And don’t be afraid to have fun while you volunteer – have a charity skate night, bake together at the Ronald McDonald House, host your own play-a-thon, build something for another family or do a fun run together. Volunteering can create great opportunities for making memories, building relationships and learning to love others.
Ann Saylor’s family, of Tennesee, again came together to volunteer on Nov. 23 for this year’s Family Volunteer Day. Disney Friends For Change, a Disney initiative dedicated to inspiring kids and families to make a positive change in the world, was the presenting sponsor of Family Volunteer Day 2013. Embassy Suites was a supporting sponsor. Find out how your family can make a difference this holiday season by visiting generationOn.org.
Changing the World `One Apple at a Time’
This post is by Calla Gilson, 17, who inspires other young people to get involved in service as a National Youth Advisory Council member for generationOn, the youth enterprise of Points of Light.
Calla Gilson, right, and her siblings show some of the
apples they picked for local children in need.
I love fall in Ohio. It’s the time of year when we celebrate the plentiful harvest and come together around campfires for fellowship. As the colors change, the fruit trees bend under the weight of their bountiful crop. This season, farmers have filled even their winter storage spaces to capacity. But there is so much fruit still left on the trees. Unless the deer eat the apples, the fruit will simply rot!
Stopping to compare this golden picture to the frustrating statistic that one in five children in the U.S. is hungry, this waste of food seems so wrong. While the rest of us are sitting down to holiday dinners, these children are left with a colder, hungrier winter ahead.
For my family, gleaning (collecting leftover crops) combines the best of the fall festivities – celebrating the bounty alongside the people who matter to you most – to help those who need it most. In an attempt to salvage all those extra apples, many orchards organize end- of-season gleaning sessions. Volunteers are invited to pick all the leftover fruit so it may be donated to area food banks.
On a recent trip to a local orchard, my family of five spent two hours at a local orchard was able to pick 600 pounds of apples easily. These apples will be used throughout the winter to help a local school provide meals for students who live in households that don’t have enough food. Every Friday, backpacks filled with nutritious foods are sent home with the students, for free. When the most basic needs of these students are met, they can focus on what really matters – their studies.
Who knew that helping others could be so much fun? My monkey of a younger brother loved climbing up into the apple trees to toss down the fruit to me, waiting on the ground. My sister and I kept a running competition to determine who could pick the most apples, and my father challenged us all to find the largest apple in the orchard. (I did!) It was a great opportunity for my family to catch up after a long and hectic week. The smell of the apple trees, the chilled autumn air and the nearness of my family made for the perfect afternoon.
The best way a family can show their gratitude for their many blessings is by giving back to the community. My family made memories that day at the orchard that I will be able to look back on for years to come. By fostering a love of service, my parents have instilled within my siblings and me a greater sense of purpose. We realize that we have the potential to change the world – one apple at a time.
Calla Gilson joined families across the country this year to support Family Volunteer Day on Nov. 23. Disney Friends For Change, a Disney initiative dedicated to inspiring kids and families to make a positive change in the world, was the presenting sponsor of Family Volunteer Day 2013. Embassy Suites was a supporting sponsor. Find out how your family can join Calla in making a difference this holiday season by visiting generationOn.org.
It’s #GivingTuesday! Help generationOn and Hasbro Give $1 Million in Toys to Toys for Tots
Hear from young stars about becoming a Joy Maker. (Click image.)
“Parenthood” stars Max Burkholder, Xolo Maridueña and Tyree Brown and dozens of other young stars are joining generationOn, Points of Light’s youth service arm, in giving joy to kids in need this holiday season.
From Dec. 3 – 20, for each action a child or teen takes to help others, Hasbro will donate a toy or game to Toys for Tots – up to $1 million worth of toys and games. That’s a lot of joy!
Go to givejoy.generationOn.org to see a video message from celebrity Joy Makers and get details on how to make your actions count. Here are just a few of the ways you can be a Joy Maker at givejoy.generationOn.org:
Download a holiday card to send to a child in need.
Find fun and meaningful ways to help kids in your community.
Find a volunteer project in your city or town.
And invite your friends to join you in giving joy on Facebook or Twitter.
Kids Play While Moms and Dads Get Cancer Treatments
As a 34-year-old mom fighting breast cancer, Amy Paterson often found herself scrambling for childcare for her 2-year-old son before many of her 144 medical appointments.
It was another layer of stress, even with support from her husband, family and friends.
See how Amy Paterson is helping cancer patients. (Click image to watch video.)
“It would have been great if there had been child care at the hospital just like there is at the gym and Ikea and all these other places that parents go,” says Paterson, who was diagnosed in 2006.
So Paterson co-founded My Little Waiting Room, one of the first drop-in childcare centers in a hospital setting in the country. Operated by Volunteers of America Oregon, My Little Waiting Room is fully licensed and able to care for up to 15 children – ages 6 weeks to 10 years old – at a time. Care is provided on a suggested donation basis.
“My Little Waiting Room brings drop-in care to the hospital, so that children can thrive while families heal,” Paterson says.
In just a few years, My Little Waiting Room has had more than 15,000 child visits, providing relief to families who need care at Providence Portland Medical Center. Success has sparked similar concepts in the region and the attention of hospitals and service organizations across the U.S.
Children play in My Little Waiting Room.
Paterson describes how some of her most memorable experiences with My Little Waiting room involve the parents who use the service: “A father who came to us had tears in his eyes and he said, ‘This will change my life.’ And then there are the moms who are just in need of a little bit of help because they are juggling their own health and their kids.”
Paterson, who has regained her health, urges people to learn from their personal experiences to help others, as she has.
“Anyone can make a difference, and the important thing is to find what your strength is and then find a place to put it,” she says. “Be that point of light, because the world needs you.”
