Life 2.0 - Chapter 1

Duke

Duke

. . first name's "Daisy" boys
May 12, 2008
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Okay, so the Rebooted Life of the Duke of Nuke is now in the running. And I'm seriously looking at making some additions. I'm hoping some people here might have a few specific suggestions along the way for what I'm looking for. so I'm going to ask for your help.

One of the first big things I'm looking to accomplish is by doing so volunteering. I'm looking to pretty much eliminate a great deal of free time from my life by doing something worthwhile, and I'd like to get some ideas from you all.

My three interests in this arena right now would be kids, animals, and something for the community. I don't know quite yet if I'm ready to be a big brother, but I would like to see if anyone has any ideas on volunteering my time towards organizations where I can be part of working with groups of kids.

I'm also looking at maybe volunteering at an ASPCA shelter, but am curious if there might be other options.

As for community, all I have come up with so far is Habitat for Humanity, which I think would rule, but since right now they aren't building any more homes because it's cheaper to buy forclosed ones, I don't know if they are taking any more volunteers. Any other ideas for community related volunteering?

Thanks a ton for anything you can bring up. As I find stuff, I'll post the details here. Maybe some other Tampons might be interested in joining me for a few projects here and there.
 
Are there any community gardens in your area? It's a good way to get your hands dirty, show some kids that dirt + vegetables = fun, and it's a chance to meet people too.

If you want to do something short-term as fasr as event volunteering, check to see if there are any walk/runs for the ASPCA, the ACS (I'm doing the Relay for Life in a few weeks), and other organizations as well. While they appreciate the participants and their pledges, they also really really appreciate the selfless volunteers that work their butts off to make the event run smoothly.
 
I've done a lot of community volunteering. The most fun I've had would be the times I've helped run bars and cafes. Mass catering is also quite a good skill to have and is very enjoyable so I'd recommend that, I don't know if you can help out in homeless shelters or whether there are activist social centres that do that kind of thing, I know here there's one in most cities.

I've actually always thought it would be very rewarding to do some kind of thing where you visit old and lonely people once a week to have a chat and keep them company. There are far too many isolated old folks that would benefit greatly from a little interaction, especially if they have no family around.
 
I currently volunteer for the Tampa Beagle rescue. There are a zillion things you can do for a rescue group not only fostering.

Currently I do fundraising by making a contest out of beagle calendars, but you ch do anything from fostering to transporting to adoption processor to funding. Whatev.

I'm partial towards animals, but there are plenty of places to help out humanity too. It really feels good volunteering.

IBenemy says it is selfish.
 
o.0. Hmm, let's try and keep this positive, shall we?

Thanks for the ideas so far. F33nx, you added a few I hadn't thought of before, and I'll take a deeper look at those.

I did find a few interesting resources so far. I think probably the first I'll investigate is being a Feline Counselor with the SPCA

http://www.spcafl.org/site/PageServer?pagename=volunteer_jobs. I don't intend on going to overboard, and since I love cats, this could be a good thing.

Jpat, you know, never did think about the whole checking with the church thing. Cause, you know, I'm dumb, and now brain damaged. Good idea on that though. thanks.

Keep em coming all.
 
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My friend is volunteering at the Humane Society. He says his orientation class is on cats and kitten.

He said he was part of the solution.

Make sure to rub it in peoples faces when you do volunteer, thats half the fun.
 
Dharma1521 said:
Make sure to rub it in peoples faces when you do volunteer, thats half the fun.
Click to expand...

Nah. This isn't about other people. It's more just to get some satisfaction for myself that I'm actually doing something with my life that makes it worth sticking around and not just being an existence thats all about me.
 
Dharma1521 said:
My friend is volunteering at the Humane Society. He says his orientation class is on cats and kitten.

He said he was part of the solution.

Make sure to rub it in peoples faces when you do volunteer, thats half the fun.
Click to expand...

When I worked in the volunteer centre/my house we used to joke about making some top trumps volunteer cards i.e. "Commitment 9, Motivation 10, Skill set 4" :lol:
 
Sarcasmo said:
Be a child advocate. It can be pretty hardcore, but if you want to volunteer, either shit or get off the pot. Greatest thing I've ever done.

http://www.nationalcasa.org/
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Wow, that is pretty hard core, and a shit ton of responsibility. That being said, I'm going to look a little more into it. Do you currently do this? What can you tell me of your experience with it if you do?
 
I bet the boy scouts in your area are also looking for volunteers for different events and stuff. That's another way to get involved with kids.
In my area there's a volunteer network that I signed up for and I get an e-mail every time any organization registered with them needs volunteers. Look around and see if you can find that for your area. It makes it really easy to figure out what's going on and where help is needed.
 
The Duke Of Nuke said:
Wow, that is pretty hard core, and a shit ton of responsibility. That being said, I'm going to look a little more into it. Do you currently do this? What can you tell me of your experience with it if you do?
Click to expand...

I don't currently do it because I simply cannot commit the time right now. I did it for two years though, and will definitely do it again at some point after I finish the degree I've always wanted.

CASA is an organization whose goal is to find permanent homes for kids. That's pretty much it. You are the objective voice of the child in the courtroom during this process. There is a lot of responsibility, but most of the hands-on responsibility lies with the foster family, which you aren't. Your job is to observe and report back to the court with your findings. You are the eye watching out for the best interests of the child. Especially the ones who can't speak for themselves.

Some children were sexually abused by family members, and some are orphans who never knew their parents. The individual situations are as many and varied as the number of children. None of my cases were ever the same.

It is an emotional investment. Some of the kids are happy and well adjusted despite their circumstances and some have psychological and/or developmental issues. I had a case involving an 11 year old who was unable to read or write, and his speech was terrible. His foster family devoted a lot of time to helping him catch up, but it was a heartbreaking issue of chronic neglect.

There are few things on earth more rewarding than seeing things work out for those kids in the end. Whether they end up back with a loving parent who had been sent to prison or with a separate family altogether, seeing positive outcomes is what this work is all about. But of course not all outcomes are positive. My friend Sherry represented one young man who committed suicide mid-way through his case. I know of another child who was murdered, though I can't recall the details of the incident.

Those situations are few and far between though. Most of mine ended with legal adoption and happy children.
 
be a big brother Duke... i can tell you from firsthand experience there are plenty of kids waiting for a positive male role model in their lives. TON of boys out there with no father in their lives. wouldn't be as big of a commitment as what is described above. maybe one visit a month, two? go have lunch with em at school once a week or something? i see people on campus doing it.. i think you'd enjoy it and would be good place to get your feet wet.
 
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