MANUAL
HELP YOURSELF TO HELPING OTHERS
Doing good for your community may be easier than you think // EMILY JOHNSON
Daniela Stilwell. Hutchinson junior, has dragged herself out of bed many mornings to prepare breakfast for those who don't have the luxury of sleeping in a warm, safe place.
Stilwell began volunteering at Jubilee Café to fulfill a community service requirement for a social welfare class. Jubilee Café provides a free hot breakfast to Lawrence community members Tuesday and Friday mornings at First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St. Many of the people who come are homeless or otherwise disadvantaged. Café volunteers begin frying hash browns, scrambling eggs and setting tables as early as 5 a.m. Stilwell became a master gravy maker, but it wasn't the lessons in culinary arts that hooked her. She discovered that many of the patrons have amazing life stories, and she loves the staff that works there. "Every time I left I just felt so good. I was energized for the rest of the day." Stilwell says.
Volunteering is a rewarding way to spend a few free hours that can positively impact many types of people, and Jubilee is just one of many charitable organizations around Lawrence that depends on the kindness of volunteers to function. Find a cause that needs your abilities and tugs at the humanitarian in your heart, and get a lot out of giving a little.
The Roger Hill Volunteer Center, 2518 Ridge Ct., helps volunteers connect with local organizations. Director Lori Johns says that in 2009, more than 600 people came to the center for assistance with finding volunteer opportunities, from which the center made about 2,500 referrals. Prospective volunteers receive three or four referrals each to help them figure out what they're interested in, and from those choose the one they find most appealing.
The center has a "weekly highlights" link on its website, www.rhvc.org, that lists the current needs of some of its 125 local affiliates. These volunteer-based organizations use a variety of strategies, such as food service, art, tutoring, manual labor and quality time to care for the needs of the homeless, disabled, youth, animals and the environment, to name a few.
If you already know what you're interested in, a website such as VolunteerMatch.org can help you easily find corresponding charities in your area. Simply enter your location and a keyword and a list of local organizations accompanied by a Google map will pop up in a matter of seconds.
But before you commit, determine what level of time and devotion you are able to put into a cause.
Organizations such as Jubilee Cafe do not require volunteers to go through specific training or commit to working a certain number of hours, but others may. For example, at Women's Transitional Care Services, 2518 Ridge Ct., potential volunteers are required to complete a 40-hour training program and commit to serving on a regular basis. WTCS advocates for domestic violence victims.
Bianca Bassell, Wichita junior, completed WTCS' training program and learned about all types of domestic violence before she even visited the shelter. She now volunteers weekly. The work fuels her interest in helping women and children and looks good on her resume as a psychology major, but knowing how much the women she helps appreciate her work is the real reward, she says. Bassell recently stayed until 1 a.m. helping a woman complete paperwork to stay at the shelter. "She really was happy that she was in a safe place and that people were trying to take care of her." Bassell says. "The fact that she told me thank you so many times just made the job more rewarding to me. Those kind of things are the things that make you want to go back every week."
VOLUNTEERVICTORY
Kansas ranks within the top 10 in the country for volunteering. Here's a look at Kansas volunteering by the numbers.
765,400 volunteers
36.2 percent of residents volunteer --- ranking Kansas 8th among the 50 states and Washington, DC
94.5 million hours of service
44.7 hours per resident ---- ranking Kansans
9th among the 50 states and Washington,
DC
$1.9 billion of service contributed
56,300 volunteers from Lawrence 41.3 percent of Lawrence residents volunteer
Data from www.volunteeringinamerica.gov based on statistics from 2004-2008
Photo by Collin Johnson
Feeding the soul. The volunteers at Julibee Cafe include many students. Volunteers help prepare and serve no breakfasts for Lawrence community members. The Cafe is just one of many volunteer opportunities around.
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