Poll: Do you volunteer?

[tippy2k2]

It is time for you to get the recognition you deserve and prove why you're so much better than everyone else! You, working to help the poor and the sick and the needy. You who sacrifices your time and efforts to assist those who need it. Suck it everyone else!

...sorry, I went a little overboard on the fake "holier than though" a bit there (or was it fake...?)

Do you volunteer? If so, what do you do? If you don't, is there a reason?

I do two three different volunteer things:

1. This is going to be the second year I'm doing the Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics. Basically, we run a 5K (Approx. 3 miles in American) and then jump into a frozen lake.

2. I donate blood once every two months or so (about the max you can do; a blood drive bus comes to our office and it's timed to whatever the minimum time between donations is).

3. I coach soccer. I coached a U10 boys in-house program and I am going to be upping the game with a U13 Girls Assistant Coach gig this year. We actually are going to start training tomorrow (hence the thread)!

So volunteers, what do you do?

 

[Andy Shandy]

Every Thursday at the local YMCA, I am a "leader" (basically I help run) a Youth Club. Since most of the kids that go there are (relatively compared to others their age) well behaved so all it usually involves on my end really is making sure the kids don't do anything too daft and playing on the Xbox with some of them when I'm asked to join them.

 

[Berithil]

Yes.

A lot.

Pretty much all my life I've been doing some form of volunteer work. From when I was a little kid and helped deliver meals to the elderly who were stuck at home, to volunteering at the public library, to lots of stuff through 4-H, among other things.

And most recently helping out at the local soup kitchen and doing volunteer work with the Sheriff's Office.

 

[lechat]

does giving blood count?
it takes a fair bit of time every couple weeks and it's basically me volunteering my services as a blood manufacturing machine and added bonus i hate needles!!

 

[Arakasi]

I occasionally donate to a cause I deem worthy, such as Wikipedia.
But I have never donated my time.

 

[tippy2k2]

does giving blood count?
it takes a fair bit of time every couple weeks and it's basically me volunteering my services as a blood manufacturing machine and added bonus i hate needles!!

I'd count it. It takes a while to do and it can really mess your entire day up depending on how much it affects you. I've walked out perfectly fine and other times I'm about to fall asleep at my desk it made me so tired...

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Every year I can I volunteer for Telemiracle [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemiracle] here in Saskatchewan. Not only is it a great cause and I get to meet some amazing people; I get to do some free filmwork and do some networking. I love being on the volunteer television crew. I've being doing it since Highschool.

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

The summer before last I volunteered at a charity shop, but this was more because I failed to find employment and wanted to put something more substantive on my CV than 'played computer games for 10 weeks' than because I'm a good person.

On the other hand, I'm O-neg and give regularly and have a standing order to Oxfam, so I can hold my own in most ethical dick measuring contests.

 

[BrotherRool]

This is going to be a biased poll =D People who don't volunteer are probably a lot less likely to click on the thread, whereas if you do volunteer, voting is a pleasant ego-affirming action

 

[tippy2k2]

This is going to be a biased poll =D People who don't volunteer are probably a lot less likely to click on the thread, whereas if you do volunteer, voting is a pleasant ego-affirming action

That's....probably true.

I changed the Title of the thread, which might help but ultimately, people who volunteer are going to be much more likely to enter the thread then people who don't.

 

[Herminator09]

Nope, never have and honestly never plan to.

 

[the clockmaker]

Give blood, Used to teach kids in youth work activities and used to be a volunteer firefighter.

 

[BrotherRool]

This is going to be a biased poll =D People who don't volunteer are probably a lot less likely to click on the thread, whereas if you do volunteer, voting is a pleasant ego-affirming action

That's....probably true.

I changed the Title of the thread, which might help but ultimately, people who volunteer are going to be much more likely to enter the thread then people who don't.

It's not a big thing, I'm pretty sure it's a flaw with almost every poll that people put up on a forum, because there's always going to be some sort of bias on the people who are motivated to vote. The content of the actual thread will still be interesting

I only mentioned it, because this one might be especially weighted, I guess there'll always be a tiny bit of guilt (bit of a strong word, not completely what I mean) when asked about it if you don't volunteer, and I'm sort of interested to see if my guess is going to turn out to be right

 

[Marter]

This moderating thing is volunteering, right? I mean, we don't get paid, so...

That would be all, though. I'm not a good enough person to do actual volunteer work (apart from that one time I volunteered with Rogers to help shoot a hockey game; that was way too much fun to count).

 

[scorptatious]

Last year, I used to volunteer at this place called "The Food Bank". Basically, we get donated food and then we give out a certain amount of it to people depending on how large their family is and their monthly income. I mainly worked as a courtesy clerk and placed their food in their cars.

Of course, then my grandmother got sick and I had to stop volunteering there in order to help take care of her.

 

[sextus the crazy]

I volunteered at a local hospice for about a year, and after that I volunteered at a local military museum.

Both were pretty cool. Other than that, I donate small amounts of money to stuff.

 

[Arakasi]

This moderating thing is volunteering, right? I mean, we don't get paid, so...

That would be all, though. I'm not a good enough person to do actual volunteer work (apart from that one time I volunteered with Rogers to help shoot a hockey game; that was way too much fun to count).

Oh that counts?
Well in that case I'm the volunteer executive staff member of another website.
So yay for me I guess.

 

[Angie7F]

i used to volunteer when I was a student.
I used to donate to disaster reliefs.
Now I am too busy and a little bit jaded so i dont do either.

 

[Mazza35]

I volunteer at two heritage steam railways in my state! One is the fourth largest in the world! (Puffing Billy!) the other is having a rough time in terms of passenger numbers :/

But I work on and with the steam locomotives, yes I am one of those poor bastards that shovel coal for no pay

 

[Epic Bear Man]

I haven't recently, but especially when I was younger, I used to cook and sometimes serve for churches and homeless shelters when their staff was low. Because I've been relatively busy with school, a relationship, etc. I haven't gotten a lot of time to volunteer and when I do have the time from anything, I'm usually too tired or not enthusiastic enough to go ahead and do it.

Although I typically donate a few dollars to the Salvation Army guys standing outside of the stores whenever I've got some spare money I most likely won't be using.

In short, I used to, not so much anymore. Once I get out of college, secure my own place, get a good steady job, etc. I will most likely get back into volunteering and more so than I did in the past.

Although I'd rather encourage people to just give to charity than actually volunteer. Volunteering is nice and amazing, but seriously, just give to the good charities like UNICEF, Red Cross, etc. they'll be able to do a lot more with $20 a month from you and many others than simply helping out your local homeless.
But if you've got some spare time and a little extra spending money, volunteering wouldn't hurt either. But if you got to choose between the two, just give your money instead.