give back

We – my fellow coworkers and I – took part in the local United Way’s Day O’ Caring. This year we worked the afterschool kids indoor carnival. I worked the Plinko game and honed my carnie skills… “EEEEEEVehreeeebodeee is ah winnah! Step right up and try your hand at Plinkooooo! The gentleman is feelin’ lucky. He’s going to try for the grand prize basketball. Lucky, lucky, lucky!”

I’m a natural carnie, and NOT because I have small hands and smell like cabbage.

It was way fun.

is hosting Bowling for Kids’ Sake. I’m on a team called The Pinheads and we’re raising some cash for this very worthy cause. You can help us out by making a small donation on their website under my name at this link:

http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=294403&lis=1&kntae294403=7F7314C956734E47A2429D7E8194939E&supId=261936930

Every little bit helps a child in need!

I am not sure what this goal means to me yet. I sponsor a child, have owned a shelter dog, done volunteer work. That’s not what I mean right now.

For me, now, it is about repaying people who have been kind to me. Who have been more thoughtful and sensitive to me than most. I have this fear of being hurt that keeps me from reaching out sometimes. Or I reach out, get a little hurt and put up walls.

But in my life right now are some very kind people who remind what it means to be unselfish, who keep giving, and always cheer me up just by being around. I would like to find a way to tell them how much they affect me. I would like to be a person who can give so freely, and make others happy.

I think I used to be more like that, and somehow lost touch with that part of myself.

because I donate in other ways. However, I need to dedicate some time toward actually being physically present in a spirit of service. I’m going to check out some local organizations and see if there are some opportunities (and there always are).

Planning a ‘volunteer vacation’ in Dharmasala or Tibet in the next couple years. YAY

I donated some craft items and some buttons (pinbacks) that I made to a charity bazaar.

I organized another food drive for work – scheduled around a payday =)

I am volunteering with the Idaho Innocence Project (look it up!)

I have signed up with Kiva.org as a lender.

I have handed out ‘propaganda’ about the Internation Campaing for Tibet.

I set up a wicked cool recycling spot in my house where I have containers for each type of recyclable and even tend to take them out to the curb from time to time. I have a box full of batteries though that i will have to take in myself. I would say 90 percent of my trash is recycled. It’s so easy once you have a system in place.

I continue to active look for causes that I can support and intend to be vocal about.

Helping people achieve dreams… offering that hand and advice or perspective that you yourself lacked.

I have helped two people start their own photography business, and assisted a couple of others to believe they can get into college. For me it is repaying a debt.. for the one or two people who helped me.

One of my goals going forward in my life, is to make sure I leave the world a better place than I found it. Right now, I am giving back by serving on two PTA boards and a strategic planning committee for a local charter school as well as volunteering to do tech support for southwestern Idaho Senior Citizen homes. More to come!!!

When I sit down and think about it, I am blessed. I live in Canada, which right away makes me luckier than most on this planet. I have parents who worked hard their entire lives and pushed me so I wouldn’t be making minimum wage when I grew up. I have a good job. The only debt I have is my mortgage, which is affordable. I’m saving a few hundred dollars a month for retirement. I’m healthy (relatively).

Now I’m starting to feel like it’s my duty to help those that aren’t as lucky as me, and not just by writing a check. I don’t know how I want to help just yet, I just know I have to.

the process of getting trained by the Red Cross to be a member of the DAT ( for my county. This team responds primarily to single family house fires. As a member of this team, I am on call evenings and weekends for 1 week out of the month from 5 PM to 7:30 AM. This will keep me honest.
I have volunteered in the past with the adult literacy, church stuff, etc. But had this activity had fallen off in my life. In the recent months, I have found my focus to be far too inward. Too concerned with me and mine. All my little anguishes and disappointments. This makes you small and worrisome. You wring your hands in a dark room with nothing to give and no energy to turn on the light. As soon as you start focusing on others – you will find energy and hope. Your pains are no longer a burden to you alone, but rather lessons to be learned from, shared with others, forgotten in the activity, lessened by the interaction.
As an outcome of this training I have learned quite a bit as well as see an additional benefit in this association.
In interest of economy of space and readability, as well as a reason for you to return to my humble ramblings – I will expand upon this concept in individual entries.