Volunteering

I used to volunteer more, what feels like long ago. Really it was at the beginning of the pandemic I discontinued because I thought I would be home a lot with a newborn and life was telling me, often, that I needed to focus more on myself and my health. 

I haven’t been back to full time volunteering however have volunteered with my son's school several times this year. 

It feels challenging, at times, to know exactly how best I can help. School volunteering is so new to me and I’m still trying to navigate everything. 

I feel like my strengths are, leadership, secretarial, event planning, event management, advertising and promoting, making graphics and flyers for events, social media, helping run meetings, photography, communication skills, listening, organizing, and thinking outside the box. 

I also enjoy volunteering my time, and helping out with school functions. 

Now do I feel like I’ve been utilizing my skill set this past year? No, not fully. Mostly because I haven’t always had the opportunity, and I felt like I needed to get through the first birth and death anniversary for our daughter Noelle. This past December was filled with emotions and it made it quite challenging to socialize. 

So where do I go from here? I don’t know. At some capacity for years, since my son was about one year old, I have been helping facilitate parent to parent support meetings. I did this work for multiple organizations, as well as my work on social media. And on social media I have been helping and supporting others for about nine years. 

At the height of my in-person volunteering I probably overworked myself occasionally, however I dearly loved the work. 

I feel like I can see many sides to what’s involved now in a school setting. All the work that goes into each function, the budget that is involved, how fundraising goes a long way. 

What bothers me is I want to know that my thoughts and ideas are listened to and appreciated. That if I volunteer in a more official capacity that I’m utilizing my skills, not just where a seat is needed, but what I have qualifications in. I want to feel comfortable with the work I would do and that I would be successful doing so. 

So here I am, just a parent who’s trying their best to volunteer, I want to be there and help as much as I’m able. I want to have a voice and be listened to. I wish that communication was more like what I’m familiar to within other organizations. Hopeful that things work out and that I’m able to help the way I’m wanting. Time will tell.