Tag Archives: Volunteering

Sep3

New Tires and New Volunteering

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New Tires and New Volunteering

Another week over and still no job prospects. I did however get to buy new tires! I’d been putting off new tires for a while, but after one blew out I took it as a sign to stop procrastinating. Now buying new tires may not be a big deal for you, but it’s a huge deal for me. First I had to save up money for several weeks to even afford them. Then I had to refrain from breaking down and crying at the tire shop when I swiped my debit card for $320. All I could think about while I sat in the waiting area was how many things I could buy with $320. I’ve pretty much mastered the art of being broke, but sometimes it really gets to me. And this was one of those times.

I also decided to add a new volunteering opportunity to my already jam packed schedule of free labor. In addition to being an event manager and marketing committee chair for One Brick and volunteering several days a week at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, I am now going to volunteer at the Student Museum in Sanford. I took my 2 hour tour of the museum this week and I hope to get started this coming week!

Aug14

Much Needed Unemployment Rant

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Much Needed Unemployment Rant

I try not to do too many negative/complaining  posts on here, but the last couple weeks have really gotten to me during my job search. So I’m taking my rant to the blogoshere to pretty much vent and maybe even get some encouragement.

The first thing that is bothering me, and has been bothering me for a long time now, is inconsiderate employers. Why is it so hard to call/email a potential candidate after an interview to let them know if they got the job? I read an article this week giving advice to employers on how to avoid negative publicity on social media platforms from disgruntled applicants. I never mention employers by name, nor do I really even talk to people about who I’m applying/interviewing with. I think it’s best not to burn any bridges. But the things I read not only seemed like common sense, but common decency. I understand that employers are inundated with applicants once they make a job public, and I don’t expect to hear back from every job I apply for. Although, if I take the time to interview with you, you owe me a call or at least a form email telling me I did not get the job. Just this week someone told me that in this economy employers have all the power and can do what ever they want. I’m sorry but that is a load of crap. A bad economy does not warrant bad behavior.

Another thing that enraged me this week was the talk of employers who are requiring applicant to be “currently employed” in order to apply for a position. Seriously?!?! I know that when someone leaves a job (or in most cases is forced to leave by a layoff) there is a potential to fall behind in technology and skills; but I highly doubt this is what is happening to most of the unemployed Americans right now. I have been unemployed for a year. I have spent countless hours on the internet researching, taking webinars and networking. I am constantly volunteering and looking for opportunities to better myself and the community. Should I be penalized for the fact that I am not in an office all day? No.  A month after I was laid off from my job my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. When looking at my resume does an employer know that 8 of the last 12 months were spent helping my family through the hardest time of our lives and I could not devote as much time to my job search as I would have liked? No. Now tell me again Mr. High and Mighty Employer why I can’t apply your job. So sad.

Apr21

My First Relay For Life

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My First Relay For Life

This past weekend I participated in my first Relay for Life at SouthPark Center in South Orlando to benefit The American Cancer Society. I found out about this location’s event through a group I belong to on meetup.com. When I signed up I only knew one other person on the team, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

With the economy the way it is I felt a little awkward about asking people for money, but many of my friends and family made donations. Our team also had fund raising events outside of the relay itself. We sold team spirit items at a charity basketball game with the XL 106.7 Cheapshots, we had a wine tasting at Taste in College Park, and we even have a couple more events lined up even though the relay is over.

A couple of days before the main event I got strep throat! My doctor told me I should not go. I decided to wait til that night to see how I was feeling. I took a late night nap and ended up getting to the relay at 3am. Apparently I missed all the fun cause there were a lot less people then there was in the picture my friend had sent from the event the evening before. Although, there was a DJ there and some dancing. I took a few laps around the track and after spending 3 straight days in bed, it really wore me out!

For the rest of the night and into the morning, I did some more walking on the track and spent time in the tent with my teammates. 6am came and my team made breakfast to sell in one last effort to raise money. Our team surpassed our goal and the SouthPark location raised over $26,000!

As I walked around the track by all the Luminaria, I thought about the women in my life that were affected by cancer. My mom, Jocelyn and my aunt Joanna are cancer survivors and my cousin Lisa passed away on March 31 from breast cancer. I walked the track in memory of these women and every person who has been or will be affected by this horrible disease. One day we will find a cure.

(The bracelet pictured was made by my best friend and Relay for Life teammate, Maria-Cristina)

Mar3

My Love/Hate Relationship With Volunteering

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My Love/Hate Relationship With Volunteering

I have always been a firm believer in giving back to the community. Although I may not have the easiest life, I have been blessed in many ways. I am healthy, I have a job (for now), a roof over my head, and I have great family and friends. It would be really selfish of me to not give back.

While I was working and going to school I did not have a lot of free time for volunteering. Once I graduated I began to look into some organizations that I wanted to be involved with.

The first organization I tried out was New Hope for Kids in Maitland. This is a great organization that helps children and families cope with the feelings of grief and loss after the death of a loved one and also grants wishes to children ages 3-18 with life-threatening illnesses. I volunteered with New Hope at the Celebrity Mascot Games and wanted to start training on becoming a grief counselor. The only problem was I had to commit to one night every two weeks for six months. Normally this would not be a problem, but I wasn’t working at the time and needed to keep my schedule open. I eventually did start working at a job which made me unavailable at the times grief counselors are needed.

I ran into a similar problem with the next organization I became involved with, Shepherd’s Hope.  Shepherd’s Hope runs several free clinics around Central Florida for people without medical insurance. I found the clinic closest to my house and volunteered there a couple times. Once again they wanted me to commit to a location and come the same time every month. And once again, my current job made me unavailable.

At the end of 2009 I decided that in 2010 I would volunteer more. Since I wasn’t available for New Hope or Shepherd’s Hope, I chose Eco-Action, an organization that does canoe clean-ups. Because a friend of mine was involved with the organization, I asked him to sign me up for the next available clean-up. This did not get me on the email list however, and I drove a half hour away only to find out the clean-up had been canceled due to bad weather. This was mostly my fault and I do plan on trying to volunteer with them again soon.

Most recently I’ve gotten involved with an organization called One Brick. Instead of committing to just one organization, One Brick allows you to pick volunteer opportunities based on what fits best with your schedule. After signing up on their website, you check the event calendar for days and times you are available, sign up and go volunteer. It’s perfect for me since I obviously have problems committing.

Last weekend was my first opportunity to volunteer with One Brick. The American Diabetes Association was having their annual Tour de Cure and One Brickers were needed to help set up. I really enjoyed helping out and meeting new people; although, it was raining and super cold. I quickly went from being pumped up about helping to feeling sick. This was not enough to turn me off from volunteering in any way. In fact, I hope to make it to another event this weekend.

Last but not least, I must mention my favorite volunteer experience of them all, being a DJ for the Rollins College radio station, WPRK 91.5 fm. I love being a DJ for WPRK and consider it more of a privilege then volunteering. I love it so much that for four and a half years I got up at 4:30 am every Friday for my 6:00 am show. Fortunately I am now on Thursday nights at 7:00 pm.

As I sit here typing this, my throat is sore, I am coughing and have a horrible headache, which I’m fairly certain is from the 3 hours I spent in the freezing rain on Saturday setting up for the Tour de Cure. But it is not as bad as having diabetes or not having the health insurance to get my self checked out or fighting a life-threatening illness, and that is why I volunteer.