Thanks for the pants.

There's a saying that I came across:

"You give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. You teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime."

Now, before I continue, I want to tell a quick story. Seriously, a really quick one. A Facebook friend of mine made a status complaining about the amount of money coming out of his paycheck. He was mad that he was being "forced" to pay for welfare and foodstamps. I responded, agreeing with his statement but countering with the point that there are in fact some people in this country that cannot make ends meet and need the assistance, even if it's just for awhile. He then responded by saying that, "McDonald's is always hiring."

If said friend thinks 40 hours a week at McDonald's is enough to live off of, I'm ashamed to say we attend the same college. And that he probably gets better grades than me. However, this story reminded me that people who don't make much money and are trying to make a better living for themselves probably don't have much money to spend for interview clothes. This brings me back to the quote you read above. With that said; Professional Outfitters feeds people for a lifetime.

Even though this specific organization is local to me (Beaver County), I felt that it was too cool not to share with you all. Basically what they do is take gently used dress clothes and sell them (nearly dirt cheap) to low-income people that need interview and career clothing. Additionally, Professional Outfitters gives people a crash course in interview etiquette. Since I think that this is an absolutely amazing cause, I've decided to start a clothing drive for them. I just posted to Facebook about two days ago, so hopefully it will generate some responses soon.

Click here to see their website. For anyone reading this who is local to Beaver County and wants to make a donation, the address is listed there. It also gives a more detailed description about what they do. You probably never knew that your size-too-small dress pants could make such an impact on someone, did you? Wish me luck on my hunt for clothing. I'll keep you updated on how much I collect.

No more excuses.

Now that my faithful six followers know the direction of this blog, I think it’s important to say that it can be somewhat of a pain to line up these community service projects I was bragging about.

You would think that most places in need of volunteers would answer the phone and say, “Yep, we’ll see you this weekend!” But from my experience it can take a little more effort than a simple phone call.

Personally, there are a few different things that have deterred me from giving back in the past:

1.       Busy, busy, busy

·         I don’t really have that much time during the week for any leisurely activities. A quality Facebook creep twice a day, a couple meals and an hour of taped reality TV before bed is my downtime. Fortunately, my jobs are flexible enough that I can call off on weekends, provided that it’s 2-3 weeks in advance. Even though it can feel like a big hassle or inconvenience, it’s definitely doable. Find what works for you.

2.      Skepticism

·         If you’ve never watched a commercial with a photo montage of abused animals at 3 a.m., bless your soul. If you don’t feel like crying and hugging your hound afterwards, you don’t have a soul. But for me, before I dial the 800 number at the bottom of the screen, the same thing always crosses my mind: “Is this money actually going to the poor little animals?” I’m guessing I’m not the only one who thinks this way. If you don’t feel comfortable sending your 15 dollars a month or have a tight budget, there are alternatives to donating money.

3.      Apathy

·         Before I started doing any sort of community service, I never really thought about it. It all started with a mandatory service learning project in an ethics course I took. Afterwards, I felt great. Regardless of how we like to think we are; a lack of action means an apathetic attitude.

4.      Where to start?

·         Finding a place to volunteer at can be surprisingly difficult, especially if you want to volunteer yourself to a wide variety of causes. It can be a little scary to make the call and inquire about what kinds of volunteer opportunities are available, and that’s understandable. Any change in a person’s life can result in hesitation. Once you get past the first call, it’s smooth sailing. On a different note, most places that need volunteers and donations can’t afford to pay someone to maintain a website (shocking). Some don’t have one at all. This makes it more difficult to find the places that need help the most.

5.      The process

·         Depending on the organization and the tasks you’ll be performing, volunteering can be a process. Some places require you to get clearances. Some have an application and interview process. Others might even require a volunteer to go through training sessions before they’ll let you help them out.  However, there are a number of places who do not require any of those prerequisites making it really easy to volunteer on your own time.

If you have any of the above thoughts or problems, it’s possible to get past them. The reward of helping someone who needs it is way greater a reward than any of the negative attitudes or roadblocks you need to get through. From here, I’ll start to talk more about different places you can volunteer for and share some personal experiences.

Bah-Humbug.

Christmas is my least favorite holiday. Every year, it seems to creep up earlier than the last. One minute you're carving a Thanksgiving turkey and the next, you can’t find a radio station that won’t play "Jingle Bells" at least twice daily. This year in particular, there was news of one shopper being hospitalized due to what I like to call, "a stampede of greed" on Black Friday. Police were also called into my local Wal-mart in response to two women duking it out over a set of bath towels.

There are good aspects of Dec. 25. I love the food, wine, family and friends. But guilt lies in the back of my mind. While I'm sitting there with a stomach full of food, next to a tree with entirely too many gifts beneath it, my mind can't help but wander. I think about people who are cold, hungry and lonely. I think about kids who don't get any Christmas gifts and the parent who could not afford them. I think about all those who are sad and suffering. Then, I’m sickened by all the overindulgence surrounding me.

Don't get me wrong. I'm well aware that people suffer all 365 days of the year, not just in December.
But for some reason, the holiday season tends to be my biggest reminder of it. However – in spite of all the suffering in the world – there’s something besides guilt that lies within me. Something more powerful than guilt. Something so strong that it could essentially eliminate the suffering of another being.

Hope.

Initially, I planned on doing a community service project each weekend and posting about it. Due to time constraints, I changed my plan at the last minute. For the remainder of the semester I will be posting about my own community service acts and also highlighting what other individuals and organizations are doing to help.

My hope and my purpose are to generate awareness for organizations in need of volunteers. But at the very least, I'm hopeful that it inspires someone to be kind and give to those who need.