During my last year of high school, I was required to do 10 hours of community volunteering for my Health and Human Services class. I chose to volunteer with a long-term care facility in the community I lived in. On my first day, I met a woman who would send me off on a career of supporting, caring, and curiosity spanning 15 years and counting. The first time I entered her room she greeted me with the biggest smile and with the soundtrack from Braveheart played loudly in the background. (You try not getting inspired with that playing around you!) This lovely woman asked me when my birthday was. After I told her, her face lit up and told me that we shared the same birthday. It was a nice moment, but one I didn’t realize the importance of until later when a staff member later told me that it was nice to see this individual smile for a change. After that, I made it a point to ensure I made her smile every day. It didn’t take much effort, just a little time and care, but I could see the difference it made for her and I could feel the positive impact it had on myself. I remember her and our time together whenever I am supporting a client who is looking for volunteering opportunities.
Through an employment lens, volunteering is a great way to build skills, prevent gaps in your resume, and can launch you into a career that may have been hard to tap into relying simply on paid work experience. From a wellness perspective, volunteering can be that missing piece to our lives that reminds us of the impact our presence can have on those around us every day. Speaking for myself, I have always found my own perspective broadened through my time volunteering. When I volunteered with the Ronald McDonald House, I learned that happiness and sadness are never very far from each other, and I learned how to share in that happiness without letting the sadder moments keep me down. There were times when my face hurt from smiling, and there were times when I would hide in the laundry room to compose myself after hearing about a family dealing with a loss. These moments could be very tough, but it would not be fair of me to avoid acknowledging that volunteering, at times, can chip at parts of you that you are trying to show light to. Much like employment, there are good and bad days when volunteering. The goal is to learn from both, help to share the good moments, and help each other through the not-so-good ones.
A few weeks ago, I attended The Volunteer Fair held at The Central Library in Halifax. Many of the attendees I met were people working on their employment skills. Others were simply looking for a way to support their community. At the booth hosted by Hospice Halifax, I met a woman who told me all about her rich history of volunteering. She always had something on the go, but she always found the time to volunteer because she could see there was always someone to help. I found her particularly inspiring because end of life care is one area of volunteering that can be daunting for many. As I found out, Halifax Hospice offers volunteering opportunities for all comfort levels, for instance in their volunteer-run thrift store.
I spoke with various other organizations: Halifax Pride, The Museum of Natural History, The Halifax Jazz Festival, Northwood, Souls Harbour, The Ronald McDonald House and many more. All were looking for volunteers to help with special events and day to day activities Most, if not all, of these organizations would disappear without the support they receive from volunteers.
Whether you are looking for a volunteering opportunity to support a one time event or a more regular, ongoing commitment, there are so many opportunities to build skills, support a community, gain some perspective, or show just one person that you are there for them during perhaps the most difficult time of their lives.
If you would like to hear about volunteering opportunities and how reachAbility can help you access them, reach out to us today! Whether you only have a few hours to support a single event, or you’re looking for a regular commitment several days per week, we can connect you to plenty of opportunities to support good causes, great people, and to make that one person smile that you’ll remember for years to come.
