What I Learn Each Time I Volunteer

About three times a month, I volunteer for the Puget Sound Blood Center as a provider of juice and cookies (i.e. donor monitor, the one who helps you if you faint or not to faint, hopefully) or as the scanner of barcodes (i.e. registration of donors). Each time I do go, I am thankful that I work for a company that cares about the community and provides this type of flexibility. Go Cool Works and many thanks to Bill.



Many times while volunteering I am asked what I do, why I volunteer, and more specifically, why I volunteer for the blood center. The quick answers. I work for a seasonal and summer job board / website called Cool Works and am a photographer on the side. I volunteer because I believe in giving back to my community and since I have the flexibility of time, why the heck not.


The longer answer. I volunteer for the blood center for several reasons, some heavy, some not. 1) My mom died back in 1994 and she spent the last year of her life on kidney dialysis. Having "good" blood is critical to one's health. 2) A boy I knew from church as a kid died in 2001 from leukemia and he received blood transfusions and bone marrow at the end of his life. Incidentally, the call to donate in honor of him, has led me to donate over 5 gallons of blood in the years since. 3) A college friend nearly died in 2004 because of a blood clot at age 31, and she received over 100 units of blood and platelets that saved her life. She is still gaining strength today. 4) On a much lighter note, I enjoy volunteering at the blood center because it's fun to give out cookies to people who donate blood as a totally selfless act. And lastly, 5) it's easy and people are so grateful for the help.


All that being said, the last time I volunteered, I scribbled down some things I learn each time I volunteer. Here they are in no particular order.

• People are good.
• People love cookies.
  
• You can talk to anybody about anything.
• All of us have people we care about.
• All of us suffer loss, have joy, and like to do something good for someone else.
• We are a community. Even for a big city like Seattle, which is small when compared to many, there can be moments of feeling like a small town because of these little gathering places.
• When you work from home, it is good to get out of the house.
  
• It is fun to interact with the public and the more that I do so, the more I see good in my community.
• It is easier to talk to somebody about something if you are observant and train yourself to pay attention to what is going on with them.
• Real conversation cannot be replaced by computer conversation, but each are worthy ways to connect. The actual connection is the important part.
• It is important to step outside of one's world to realize that we're all in this together.
• It is good to be challenged by others with questions and conversation.
• There are some really cool jobs out there. Volunteer and you may meet your next employer or find a new dream job.
• If all else fails, you can always talk about the weather.
  

Now the question goes to you. Do you volunteer?


To learn more about volunteer opportunities on CoolWorks.com, click here.