your thoughts on giving back
Recently I shared a short thought on giving back … a stack of you seemed interested in finding ways to volunteer and give…so I thought I’d post some of the ideas you shared with me. Thanks to everyone who reached out. Always appreciated.
Lisa: telecross – a part of the Red Cross where volunteers are given people to call at the same time every day to make sure they are okay. Like the elderly who are lonely or unable to get around. Perfect for me as a stay at home mum with three kids.
Gavin Hardy: Bicycle Advocacy… it seems to be the recurring theme lately. I particularly like the recycling of bikes, which help kickstart small businesses in Africa.
Zetty – I started to send each of my friends a little heart with a message to tell them how I love and appreciate them. This was the beginning of what has become the Travelling Heart Project. I now have people adopting hearts and joining in the fun of spreading love from all around the world.
Penelope – I run a program in NW Tasmania called Produce to the People. We gather excess produce from people’s backyard gardens and give it to families in need in the community. We also plant snack gardens in Primary Schools so kids get to see their food grow and get unemployed youth to help build them. It can be really simple to make a difference.
Julie King: one of my jobs is working with the Sydney Street Choir. Its fantastic, spending time with people who are way less lucky than me. The combination of music, singing and helping out: it’s magic.
Lisa M: We sponsored a child through East African Mission Orphanage established by an Australian family 14 years ago and I hope to one day travel and give of my time to assist their wonderful work in taking vulnerable children dumped in the streets of Kenya. We give of our time what we can within family constraints and as our children grow and we gain more free time, we can give more of ourselves to others.
Ange: If anyone is to visit Chiang Mai there are some very special hill-tribe orphans at the Children’s Shelter Foundation.These kids are amazing they grow all of their own fruit and vegetables on an organic farm. Some of them have been tortured and a hand full of them deaf, then brutally disowned as they are disabled. Heart wrenching stuff but they’re happier than any kids in the western world. Go and stay with these children it will change your life. It will make you appreciate all the small things, and bring some sunshine into these kids lives.
Dee: I volunteer at Karuna hospice – I help with fundraising and market stalls at the moment, but I know it is my destiny to, one day, help with the nitty gritty of helping people die with dignity and comfort.
Lukas: I’ve done some volunteer work for Conservation Volunteers Australia and highly recommend it!!!
Lots to choose from to help our flora and fauna friends.
Feel free to add more ideas if you’re late to this!
Hi Sarah,
I have a great one. http://www.all-onefoundation.com
Provides permanent healing support for children and young women recovered from the sex trade in Cambodia & Thailand.
It’s run by volunteer Network Chiropractic practitioners. Network is excellent for processing emotional, mental and physical trauma leaving these kids and young women able to function in life as balanced and healthy adults.
They do truly awesome work. I recommend checking out the before and after pics.
http://www.all-onefoundation.com/all/?page_id=24
Thanks for your post. I LOVE your blog!
Rachel
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Thanks for the info about Telecross, LIsa – I’ve just joined up to help out in Qld. Regards, Dee (previous blogger re Karuna)
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No problem, such an amazing service, they talked about it on 7pm last night after that poor lady was found dead, nd had been for seven years! !!! If only someone had been calling her so sad!
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July 7th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
It’s an incredible service. Thanks for sharing Lisa!
I was reading about the lonely old lady in this morning’s paper. Very sad that life can scurry along for seven/eight years before anyone realises a person has died.
x
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If you like to climb a tree like @_sarahwilson_ and feel the fresh air on your face, the Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad is currently recruiting! We are such a little, relatively unknown specialist squad of outdoorsy types, affiliated with the Volunteer Rescue Association in NSW.
We assist Police in searching for lost and injured bushwalkers, canyoners, missing persons, etc, in our great Aussie bush. We have a goal of 30 new members before the end of the year… are you one of them?
If you are an experienced bushwalker and want to use your skills to give back to the community, we’d love to hear from you! http://is.gd/CGVCH2
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David Grohl? You seem to go for a certain look
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Giving back is an awesome concept. I follow Tiffany Dow’s blog and she thought that this comment was so amazing she actually mailed it out to her list in a special email:
“If you’re lucky enough to do well, and rise to the top, then it’s your responsibility to send the elevator back down for someone else.”
Although I have done some serious volunteering in my time, at the moment time and energy do not permit any great commitments, but giving back can be in a myriad of small ways, an offer to get coffee for a work colleague who is snowed under, a phone call to a friend or relative, taking the time to send a card or email to somebody that you haven’t seen in a while, making a house mate’s bed who had to rush out in the morning, getting a neighbour’s washing in if it starts to rain, helping an elderly neighbor with the weeding the list is endless. You can always do something to improve your little corner of the world and if everybody did some little kindness every day, the world would be a much better place.
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