Anyone volunteer? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone volunteer?

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mimico_polak

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So recently I got to thinking a little bit and I wouldn't mind exploring volunteering to help those less fortunate. I've been fortunate in my life, and would like to think lucky in a lot of ways but I don't see the other side and would like to give back.

Anyone volunteer?
Where to start?
What options are there to volunteer ones time?
Good thing to teach the kids?

Not even sure what type of volunteering to do, or what is the best place to start?

Men's shelters?
Work with kids?
Old people?
Sick? Healthy?

I'm sure my comments and entertainment on GTAM don't count as volunteering to the geriatric community here...no matter how much mind gymnastics I can do.
 
mimico_polak said:
So recently I got to thinking a little bit and I wouldn't mind exploring volunteering to help those less fortunate. I've been fortunate in my life, and would like to think lucky in a lot of ways but I don't see the other side and would like to give back.

Anyone volunteer?
Where to start?
What options are there to volunteer ones time?
Good thing to teach the kids?

Not even sure what type of volunteering to do, or what is the best place to start?

Men's shelters?
Work with kids?
Old people?
Sick? Healthy?

I'm sure my comments and entertainment on GTAM don't count as volunteering to the geriatric community here...no matter how much mind gymnastics I can do.
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I do habitat for humanity sometimes, been thinking about helping at homeless shelters or maybe a soup kitchen, probably more direct that way
 
bigpoppa said:
I do habitat for humanity sometimes, been thinking about helping at homeless shelters or maybe a soup kitchen, probably more direct that way
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Interesting. What do you do at Habitat for Humanity?

I’m fairly handy I may be able to help there.

Mind you time will be even more limited with 3 in the house….but it’s a good reason to get out of the house.
 
mimico_polak said:
Interesting. What do you do at Habitat for Humanity?

I’m fairly handy I may be able to help there.

Mind you time will be even more limited with 3 in the house….but it’s a good reason to get out of the house.
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well it depends, If youre a pro or even a semi pro, you can probably contact them ahead of time and do some specific work that needs doing

I usually just dropped in and did whatever was needed(flooring, painting, crown work etc)
 
I have been volunteering at the YMCA and St. Vincent de Paul for a while. And I do some volunteer IT stuff for clubs with websites but this can be time consuming and frustrating.

In the past, humane society and homeless shelter / soup kitchen.

Schedule wise? Weekends and evenings
 
I've done the soup kitchens, cleaned up and sorted food, tutored students, walked dogs, watched kids entertain at a seniors residence, collected and dropped off clothing, delivered home made food to a refugee centre and taught motorcycling.

One guy helps I know volunteers at the homeless shelter, and takes a bunch of them out every year to a nice restaurant on his dime.

St. Andrews Presbyterian which is downtown (King & Simcoe) does an out of the cold program where they were always looking for more volunteers, which I was told they'd rather have, than your money.

If you go to church, there are lots of opportunities to get involved helping the less fortunate.
 
Georg3__ said:
^
I loved out of the cold but the one I was involved in shutdown
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Did you lose the space, lose the management, not enough volunteers, have it get dangerous, or run out of money.
 
mimico_polak said:
So recently I got to thinking a little bit and I wouldn't mind exploring volunteering to help those less fortunate. I've been fortunate in my life, and would like to think lucky in a lot of ways but I don't see the other side and would like to give back.

Anyone volunteer?
Where to start?
What options are there to volunteer ones time?
Good thing to teach the kids?

Not even sure what type of volunteering to do, or what is the best place to start?

Men's shelters?
Work with kids?
Old people?
Sick? Healthy?

I'm sure my comments and entertainment on GTAM don't count as volunteering to the geriatric community here...no matter how much mind gymnastics I can do.
Click to expand...
For nearly 30 years I volunteered with kid's sports. I started with Big Brothers when I was 20, I convinced the local hockey league to provide rec hockey for dadless boys on a pay-what-you-can basis. CSC usually paid for the young kids, some Big Brother's themselves paid for the little bros they mentored. After a few years of that my kids were ready to play so I moved into coaching and officiating kids, then moved into instructing coaches as a club coach and coach mentor. I did recreational levels for soccer and lacrosse, and competitive levels for hockey.

It's both challenging and rewarding -- nice thing is you can do it with your kids, and you'll meet a lot of nice people.
 
I did a little bit of volunteering. I worked with Frontier College to provide MS Office training for people in the community with social economic and literacy issues. I've also volunteered in the black community as a photographer for special events. This part was more about socializing for me and trying to connect to a culture. Either way this helped me as much as I helped them, as being around these communities helps broaden your knowledge and perspective. As @Mad Mike mentioned you meet a ton of nice people doing these kinds of things.

I think my next step would have been exploring something like meals on wheels.

This might be a helpful resource if you want to explore some ideas
 
mimico_polak said:
I have not at all. Almost feels like being on my 40s is too late to be a big brother.
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Not too late at all. A lot of these kids just don't have a father figure around -- think about it for a second, a 10-14 year old could be your son.

My experience Big Brothering was the kids mostly want to connect with an adult other than their mom -- none of the kids I worked with had a father figure or older sibling. It's 3 to 4 get togethers a month, doesn't involve fancy gifts or expensive activities, - the mostly want the bro to bro connection they'd get from a dad. Watch a movie, football game on TV, fishing, joining your family on a picnic, helping you tinker on your motorcycle. I used to do 1 big thing a year, maybe a Jays game or a day at the Ex.

They do a good job of matching interests so there is common ground from the get go.
 
Too much of a loner for volunteering and they'd throw me out for corrupting the kids. :rolleyes:
Whole family in Aus tho are deep into Dog Rescue and all of our dogs have been rescue mutts and sis in law walks for them as well.

www.yaps.org.au

Home - Yaps

YAPS Animal Refuge rescue abandoned and unwanted dogs and cats in Cairns area, Far North Queensland. Our refuge animals stay with us and are lovingly cared for until their ‘forever families’ come along to adopt them. Some end up living … Continue reading →
www.yaps.org.au www.yaps.org.au
 
Myself, my wife and son volunteer with the salvation army for Christmas food / toy deliveries to families in need. It's good for all of us, and gives help to the community. Looking for other opportunities.
 
Forgot a couple of things we did when we were younger. Volunteered at Beavers & Cubs, and reading books at CNIB. We met a few radio and tv personalities at CNIB. I'm not sure if they still do that, we used big reel to reel tape decks.

Others in the church go up and repair/build summer camp dorms, every year or two, at a camp the church sponsors.

My wife used to tutor kids in science at a house for them downtown.
 
I volunteered at a Distress Centre/Suicide Prevention hotline for over 3 years. Although it was very emotionally demanding, and they required a time commitment of at least 1 overnight shift a month in addition to normal day shifts, it was very rewarding because of the front-line contact and you learned a lot about mental illness, empathy and active listening.

Not something you can do long-term as burn-out amongst volunteers is quite high. I wanted to remain involved even after I could no longer commit to the overnight shifts, so after a few years I transitioned to providing IT support for the centre and after that I was nominated to the Board of Directors for a couple of years where I helped make organizational decisions.
 
One thing I didn’t consider is being a scout leader. My son has started the first steps and they’re always looking for volunteers.

Not sure if I wanna deal with the old Polaks and Freedumbs though.
 
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