Volunteering

I have frequently sought out opportunities to volunteer, to give back to my community, to offer something to someone who could use it. With as busy as we often are, a lot of my charity comes in the form of monetary donations. But when I find the right opportunity, I jump on it whole heartedly.

I was a junior volunteer (yes, candy striper in my red and white striped uniform) at the local hospital when I was in high school for about a year. I actually didn’t particularly enjoy it because I wanted to interact with patients and help the doctors. Ha ha ha! My tasks frequently included photocopying and collating. The senior candy stripers were the ones who got to deliver flowers to the rooms. Suck ups.

In grad school I volunteered regularly as a science fair judge. I LOVED this task and jumped at every opportunity. I particularly loved judging at a few of the lower income schools because the projects I saw were truly the kids work and ideas most often. Although the mold and volcanoes were just an exercise in nastiness and overperformed demonstrations I could really do without and usually garnered an “average” rating. (Although we never issued “below average”.) I was once invited to judge at a private junior high and my eyes were opened. What 12 year old knows what a chi squared analysis is? And what 7th grader actually was able to apply radiation through the use of x-ray machines on a daily basis to plants? And what about the well designed experiment to drop 100 wine glasses packed in a variety of packing materials from the top of the university parking garage. Thoroughly well designed project… that parent should really be working in quality assurance for glassware companies… if they aren’t already. Yes, many were obviously parent projects, but I hoped that instead of the parents doing the projects that these kids were benefiting from spending time with their parents engaged in a project. I will say it again, I loved judging science fairs and seeking out the truly unique thought that some kids put into their projects.

When we first moved to this area I decided I would find an organization to volunteer with. I picked Special Olympics for no reason other than it sounded like a neat organization to volunteer with and I was fairly active and could serve as a coach (ideally). I went through the State Trooper investigation, was deemed appropriate to work with children and went to my first volunteer event, a 5K run. Being a runner, I was excited to help. I was never so appalled with the lack of organization, advertising and general caring of the people involved. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the proceeds raised went directly to line someone’s pockets. I was called once again to help with a bowling tournament, declined and never heard from them again. No love lost there.

An opportunity recently crossed my desk to serve as an e-mail mentor to a junior high girl through an organization devised and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is an after school club designed to give kids that wouldn’t normally have access to science and technology in their everyday lives (kids without computers and/or internet) exposure to science and technology as well as time each week on a computer and on the internet. To go along with this each girl will be paired with an e-mail mentor working in the field to chat about whatever really. Schools are selected to have clubs, the clubs are amazingly well funded, and the participants are low income, minority dominant schools. This sounded like the ideal opportunity for me to volunteer as an e-mail mentor.

Once again I passed the State Trooper investigation, then went to a four hour training class for the program where I learned a lot about the program, but found that I was mostly being preached to about racial tolerances and sensitivities. Something I thought I never really had a problem with personally. The fact that I work in national security was balked at a little by the organizers (hey, they accepted my application) because they worried that my student might be reluctant to talk to me out of fear I would have her family deported as this is a common concern among these kids. (Truly I have absolutely NO authority in this area.) Still I stuck with it.

The program has very nearly landed in my box of “what a load of crap this is”. Really this should be a great organization. It is heavily funded. The things these kids get to do would make most college professors jealous. The administrators of the program are paid and not volunteers. Still it is run like the blind leading the blind. They are at least a month late in matching the students up with mentors. The kick off event is scheduled for 4 hours on the Saturday before Thanksgiving at a site significantly out of town. (This is 8 hours of donated time for something touted to take “just a few minutes a week” of your time in e-mailing.) I am supposed to RSVP by tomorrow, yet still don’t know if I will even HAVE a student and supposedly many students will likely not be able to attend.

I feel like a huge dolt saying to the organizers if my student (providing I have one by then) can make it, I will be there. Otherwise no, I am not donating half my Saturday before my holiday. I ran the logistics by AB last night and his immediate response was to simply decline the invitation to go. Still I hate doing this. I would hate to think that a junior high girl and her family head out of town to the kick off and her mentor isn’t even there.

I am waffling in my RSVP response to send tomorrow. Either a waffling “yes, I will attend, but only if my student is attending so get your asses in gear, assign me a student and let me know her RSVP status” or “no, I will not be able to attend the kick-off”. Ok, so the first one is only what my bitchy pregnant self wants to write… I wouldn’t actually write that.