Garden Work Days with Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation

I love getting the kids outdoors, I also very much appreciate how volunteering gives my children a new appreciation for things. That's why Garden Workdays with Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation is a great opportunity for families! Dates vary throughout March (Mar 16, 23, 30, 31) from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Locations also vary.

To join in, please call Kathy at (734) 385-6560, 7:00-9:00 a.m. before each date to confirm attendance and location, Once there, families will appreciate gardening side-by-side with Washtenaw County’s Park Horticulturist, Kathy Squiers and Master Gardeners, to learn techniques and tips, gain experience and practice, and enjoy healthy exercise outdoors!  For spring garden clean-ups, we will rake, prune, weed, divide, mulch and plant.  Learn a lot while assisting with general garden and plant care in a variety of landscape settings.

Find Volunteer Opportunities for Families This Holiday Season

I really am a big proponent of giving back through volunteering. It's a life lesson I am hopefully teaching my children as well. Every year we have signed up as bell-ringers, been volunteer shoppers for Warm The Children, helped out at Food Gatherers and Growing Hope, and anywhere else that I can find where my children can participate. What I haven't found though, was one website that might help me find the best opportunities for volunteering locally and instead I've gone directly to the individual organizations. Wouldn't it be nice to go to one place to find opportunities for volunteering? Now there is.

The Blueprint for Aging, sponsored by Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County, is leveraging its new volunteer website, VolunteerWashtenaw.org, to communicate holiday giving and volunteering opportunities. In addition to the website’s usual formal volunteer programs, the site has been opened up to communicate one-time opportunities for individuals, families, and groups to help others this holiday season.

My quick check-in to the site revealed many opportunities to give and volunteer, and the best part is, there is an area where families can look for opportunities for their younger children to participate in! So let's all give back to our communities to find “Something Worth Doing”.
I'll be back throughout the year looking for opportunities for myself, my children, and likely my cub scout den, you should too. Visit the Volunteer Washtenaw website today!

Life Lesson: Teaching Gratitude with a Side of Math!

Zach and I headed over to Food Gatherers today for their Family Volunteer Day - Which was really a block of 90-minutes instead of all day. It was a great activity for him, very age appropriate, and was just long enough to hold his attention for a lesson in being socially responsible by helping others.

My first objective, was to make sure that he understood what the Food Gatherers organization was about. I settled on telling him that Food Gatherers is a place where food is collected to give to those that can't afford to go buy groceries. A clearer explanation for him though came while we were driving when I mentioned the "food bank warehouse" and Zach pipped up "You mean it's like the bank where I put my college money?" "Actually yes that's exactly what it is. Food Gatherers takes food from people like you and I (we brought a few cans to donate which helped) and then stores it for people who need groceries. Families can then take their groceries out of the bank!" That still doesn't completely encompass what Foodgatherer's is, but it worked easily enough and further explanation came when we were inside volunteering.

Zach and I were actually assigned to the Carrot Cake Crew (or maybe that was what we called it!) where we created 2-pound bags of carrot cake mix from larger bulk bags. I was thrilled to do this too because not only was it a lesson in volunterring, but this job was a quick "math lesson" as well: 

"We have 3 bags already packaged Zach, how many more do we need to reach 8?"

"Each box needs 16 bags of cake mix and there are 11 already there. How many more bags do we need to put into the box?"

Zach thoroughly enjoyed being the one to scoop the cake mix into the bag on a scale, he also really liked watching the scale adjust until he got each bag weighed just right.  He was a tad on the short side though and complained - only briefly - that his arms were hurting. (I don't blame him at all!) So instead he sealed the bags and carried them over to the packing boxes.

He and I bagged around 36 bags of mix, and never once did he ask to go home! He didn't even mind the clean up portion and grabbed the broom with glee... If only he volunteered to help like that at home!

If they asked I'm certain he would have wanted to stay all day...

Our morning was a great way to spend time together, to enjoy helping others and was a great way to instill gratitude into Zach. I would do it again in a heartbeat and will be watching very closely for more family volunteer days - If you would be interested in family volunteer opportunities, be sure to sign up for the Food Gatherers e-mail list.

Another Family Friendly Volunteering Opportunity for Older Children & Teens

The Ann Arbor Earth Day Festival is currently recruiting volunteers to assist with onsite coordination during the event on Sunday April 25th, 2010 at Washtenaw Community College. We are looking for individuals and organizations that have interest in contributing towards making this year’s event a success while helping us celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day! This opportunity is great for older scouts, high school volunteer groups, college and adult organizations and individuals. Volunteers can select from a variety of positions ranging from costumed assistants during the annual All-Species parade to onsite Zero-Waste facilitators. For more information on how to be involved please visit the Earth Day Festival information page.

Family Volunteer Opportunity at Food Gatherers During Spring Break

Some very odd coincidences have been happening to me of late that have led to a great opportunity for my family. 

...  I have been considering what to do with my children during spring break next week
... I have been thinking about the next volunteering opportunity for my children and I,
... And I have been reading a great book "You'll Thank Me Later" that gives parents an understanding of how to help their children become more grateful, so that they will grow up to be respectful, responsible and happier adults.

So where have these odd coincidences led me? To an e-mail I received about two Family Volunteer Days at Food Gatherers!

Volunteering is something that I have done throughout my life - my parents always encouraged it. It has been one way for me to give back when it might have otherwise been a cost-challenge. Giving back is also something that I am teaching my children, even at their young ages. In general volunteering seems to be a rising trend, whether it is because Disney offered up the opportunity to receive a free amusement park ticket in exchange for a day of volunteering or simply because one parent wanted to provide a means to give their child food for thought through volunteering.

"Involving children in volunteering and community service is an excellent way to help them gain perspective about the benefits of their lives. And learn gratitude." says Annie Zirkel, Licensed Professional Counselor, Relationship Counsultant and author of You'll Thank Me Later "Of course this needs to be done just right, taking into account the child's age and sensitivity to situations that they will be exposed to. That's the trick - not overdoing it and not under doing it."

Volunteering is a wonderful thing really, and has many benefits to children, teens and adults alike.  Benefits of teaching a child the value of volunteering include:

• An increased sense of connectedness in your children,
• Passing on of family values,
• Seeing immediate results of their actions for positive impact, 
• Increases in self-esteem and self-image,
• Greater confidence in learning new skills and being exposed to new experiences,
• Volunteering can help dissolve the materialistic and self-centered attitudes,
• and a great sense of satisfaction

In the instance of the volunteering opportunity at Food Gatherers next week, my son and I will be there on Wednesday.  By the time this article posts however I would bet that many of the spaces on either Monday, April 5th - 2-3:30 p.m. or Wednesday, April 7th - 10-11:30 a.m. will be filled.  That should NOT however discourage you from calling (734-761-2796) to see what is available for families with children ages 5-12 or when future opportunities will be present.  It is also possible to sign up at the Food Gatherers site to receive e-mail alerts for volunterring opportunities (Once at the site, sign up for the “FG Volunteers” group).

What a GREAT way to strengthen the family bond, contribute to a worthy organization AND have a meaningful conversation with your child in a positive environment. If happen to be at Food Gatherers next Wednesday be sure to say "hello" ~ Zach and I will be there helping to either help sort recently donated food and pack up 'family' boxes, or they may help sort and repackage incoming produce that will be distributed to partner agencies for families in need of food assistance.