I volunteer with Hope Ministries at the Toy Store. It is where parents can get $80 worth of free toys for their children at Christmas. December is our busy time, but the shopping starts immediately after Christmas for the next year, and then there is the pricing (10 cents on the dollar), shelving, inventory, etc., that goes on from August to December. There are other things I volunteer for, such as Trunk or Treat and the Egg Hunt in the Park, but this is the main one.
I’m not volunteering at the moment, as I’m trying to avoid crowded places and close interactions with others. In the past, I was very involved in both my church and school communities. At church, I served as a Catechism teacher after school, a Eucharistic minister, and a Summer Bible School teacher. At school, I sponsored a book club for students and another one for teachers. I also sponsored, with the help of teachers I recruited through the years, an annual Poetry Night. I haven’t volunteered since 2020, but I look back on those experiences with a lot of gratitude.
When Jorge and I are feeling better and I’m more stable, I’d love to look for a new way to serve in my community again.
I used to belong to the Jaycees and we did all kinds of volunteer work, mostly raising money for local organizations and causes through organizing golf tournaments and bingo. While working for the airlines, I collected food for a local pantry and even some of the crew members would bring me bags of food when they flew in. Since then the only volunteering I've done is just in our community helping with set ups and breakdowns for meetings and partys.
