There are so many of you who have reached out with interest in becoming a volunteer, or expressing a need to find some way to give back to the community. The most common reason we hear for not committing is time.
Everyone is busy - all of us! What I'd like to help people understand is how easy it is to help an older neighbor with a simple service - when YOU are available. Volunteering with Faith in Action of the Greater Kanawha Valley is designed to work on your schedule, with opportunities to serve as little or as much as you'd like.
Let's start with transportation to medical appointments.
We have a full schedule of requests for rides to doctor's offices. As a volunteer, you are given full access to that schedule so you can see where the care receiver lives, where they need to go, and how long we anticipate this event to take in total. In other words, you'll be given all the information you need to make an informed decision regarding whether or not that particular trip will work for you.
Let's say you know you are free next Thursday afternoon and you open the schedule to see Mary, who lives not far from you, needs a ride to a 2 pm appointment. You decide you can do that, so you sign up. On Thursday, you pick Mary up, drive her to her appointment, and then make sure she gets safely home when it is over.
If Mary lives 30 miles from you and it's just too much - you don't sign up.
That's it. That's how simple it is.
When we say to our volunteers that accepting even one assignment a month is an enormous help to us and to those we serve, we mean it. Our opportunities are flexible, short-term, and meaningful, all at the same time - and that is by design. We want this experience to be as satisfying for you as a volunteer as it is for the older neighbors who benefit from your kindness.
Join us at our next in-person training on August 20th - or visit our website to take the online training at your own pace - to learn more. We'd love to welcome you to the family!
#volunteer #servingseniors #neighbortoneighbor #helpinghands
