Why volunteer? Last Sunday, I started volunteering! For years, I wanted to volunteer, but things got in the way. After all, it is much easier to write a check and it takes less time and effort. I decided that I wanted to do something worthwhile, but I did not know what I wanted to do. I figured I might as well jump at the first chance and see if I liked it. I did and I liked it!
I am volunteering a few hours a month to start! I joined with other people to feed the homeless. The organization has teamed with high school students and volunteers to put food together to feed roughly 1,000 people every month. They are able to do this through donations of food and people’s time to distribute soup, sandwiches or other food stuff to homeless people directly. I spent a few hours with other people to distribute the food in various parts of downtown Los Angeles.
Volunteering has some of the elements of teaching. I feel needed and I am doing something either important or worthwhile. I can use some of my organizational skills and I get do something rather than just talk about it. I get to do it with other people who want to do something positive and I can get some satisfaction from helping. It has sparked some interesting ideas what I would like to do next. Volunteering is good for you! I can also identify the best or my favorite articles of the week. This makes a good segue to today’s picks for Friday Night Links.
The following articles caught my attention:
Boomer & Echo – Interesting Survey: How Women View Money Matters
Brave New Life –Get Rich Quick – The BNL Way
Everyday Tips and Thoughts – Even though I Am A woman I CAN Make a Decision
Faith and Finance – How Much Should You Have in Your Emergency Fund?
Figuring Money Out – Vacation Plans: Shorter, Cheaper Trips
The selection of blogs is up to the committee of one established by krantcents as a representative of the Academy of Frugal Journalistic Writers. That committee can be influenced by meaningful comments, signing up for my RSS feeds, backlinks, links, trackbacks, Facebook Likes, Twitter, Re-tweets, Digg, StumbleUpon, delicio, Yahoo Buzz, Google Bookmarks and other social media. If you plan on creating a single purpose political action committee (PAC) to buy advertising on my blog to solely influence the committee, please go ahead! Please understand it will not influence the results.
I read more than five hundred (500) articles a week and I highlight just five (5) in my Friday Night Links. Volunteering is good for you! Thanks for reading Friday Night Links Volunteer Edition.
Photo by: Abhishek Kumar
Carnivals:
Nerdy Finance Carnival at Nerdy Finance Carnival
Yakezie Carnival at Kylie Ofiu
Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at The University of Money
Carnival of Retirement at Life Insurance by Jeff
Y & T’s Weekend Ramblings at Young and Thrifty
Carnival of MoneyPros at Making Sense Of Cents
Totally Money Carnival at James Petzke: Graduating with a Surplus
Wealth Artisan’s FinCarn at Wealth Artison
Carnival of Financial Planning at Broke Professionals
Everyone should volunteer!
That is great you are volunteering! That is something I plan to spend more time on now that I am not working at the moment. I am looking into the right opportunity (volunteer) now, and plan on starting in September.
Thanks so much for the link, and I hope you have a great weekend!
Thanks, I have wanted to start for a long time. Who knows, more to come.
While I don’t see it in the near future I do hope to start volunteering again one day with junior acheivement or an animal shelter. Time is at a premium right now though.
I am just starting with a few hours a month. If I like it I expect increase it over time.
Giving back to the community doesn’t always mean money..it also means giving your time.
I agree, giving your time is much more meaningful anyway.
I volunteered twice this week! That’s quite high for me. I coached a couple on their finances through my church’s financial ministry on Monday and then on Thursday made and served dinner at a local soup kitchen/homeless shelter with a group from my church. Neither one is a regularly occurring gig, though, just as opportunities come up. It feels great!
I feel the opposite of you though – money is more precious to me than my time, so I make sure to donate money regularly because I’m less naturally inclined to.
Since I am just starting to volunteer, I am still looking for which things I want to continue. I expect to sample various opportunities to find what I like.
I have been volunteering with my family forever. It’s a great way to make friends too.
Chase
I agree and you get to join like minded people in something outside yourself.
I’ve volunteered throughout my life, my parents were my models in this area. My favorite volunteer gig was a VITA tax preparer; I loved it, but it required 3 hours per week, which is tough to swing.
This is the first volunteering that I had absolutely no connection. I did things for my children’s school or Girl Scouts, but never where I had no connection.