Helping Hands is an initiative that finds assistance for those who need help completing everyday tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who want to receive and lend a hand fill out their respective forms, and we pair them up. As you can probably tell, generous volunteers are quite literally the backbone of our program considering that they are on the ground working. I recently had the chance to ask one of our frequent volunteers, Samantha, questions about her volunteer work. Keep reading to find out why she’s so willing to give up her time to lend a helping hand to others.
To Invest in the Community
We’ve all probably volunteered for something at some point in time, but making a habit out of it is something I have yet to do. According to Samantha, viewing volunteerism as an investment in your community is one way to find motivation: “Personally, I enjoy volunteering because I believe in investing in my community, and spending my time trying to help improve it is one way that I try to help make it a better place.”
To Find Grounding
It’s quite easy to get caught up in your own little world. Volunteering brings balance and serves as a reminder that not everyone’s life is the same as (or even similar to) yours. Samantha mentioned that “volunteering brings inequities into perspective” and “gives me a greater understanding of the ways in which I hold privilege. Spending my time helping others is one of the ways in which I can use my privilege to benefit others, rather than contribute to further inequity.”
To Discover New Services and Programs
The beauty of Helping Hands is that we’re city-wide, so completing tasks will probably move you outside of the parts of town you frequent. You might even discover a program you didn’t know about. For example, Samantha had the chance to volunteer with My Sister’s Closet, which is pretty popular in Bloomington, IN. Did you know that Ellettsville, IN has a food pantry, though? I know I didn’t, and she didn’t either. I hadn’t even heard of Hoosier Hills Food Bank in Bloomington until a couple months ago. Anyways, volunteering can “put you on” to services in the community in which you can inform others or keep in the back of your mind for the future.
Sign up to be a volunteer with (or receive care from) Helping Hands today! For the reasons detailed in the blog post and more, you won’t regret it!
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