It is my belief that how / where / what / with whom / when a person volunteers reflects strongly her (or his) true character and interests.
Below I will attempt to generate a list of volunteer endeavors I recall participating in:
- Elementary School (and for several years thereafter) = Girl Scouts and 4H activities
- Junior High School = a nearby institution for the severely differently-abled (at that time, patients referred to as severely retarded and/or severely handicapped. I prefer the term differently-abled.
- High School = STOP (Students To Oppose Pollution) / litter pick-up drives / trail maintenance
- mid-to-late 1970s (Ricker College) = literacy volunteer
- late 1970s – ongoing = literacy volunteer (Syracuse, NY; Charlottesville, VA; Seoul, Korea)
- 1980s through 1990s = Nursery School, PTA (Parent Teacher Association), SIT (School Improvement Team), Camp Fire Boys & Girls Leader, library, literacy, Big Sister program, Daily calls to Seniors program
- 2000 to present = refugee assistance, adult education classes, Festival of Cultures events, Dialogue on Race and other intentional dialogue groups (focus on racism and other ‘isms’), tutor / tutor-trainer / board member for Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle, food pantry, producer of a local Public Access TV storytelling show, special projects, floral design, newsletter copy editing, VAACE, TESOL, and other education-related volunteer projects, Alliance for International Women’s Rights (AIWR)