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Kiran

Give some time.....

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by , October 16th, 2011 at 10:01 PM (1351 Views)
In the current economic climate many people are out of work and also many community and voluntary groups are having their funding cut more and more. Many of these groups carry out vital work in their communities, working on the front line, and yet I find in my own local area, while the level of unemployment creeps up, the number of people willing to volunteer is dropping drastically!

I am lucky to still have full time work and I volunteer in my local area working with disadvantaged families (not a do gooder no, but because I believe in supporting each other is the way forward). We are organising an Intercultural Family Fun Day next week and have just held 2 workshops for the local children making masks. We asked for 6 people to give us a hand with them....all the people, bar one, that helped out, were all working full time and took time off work to help, including myself.
I do not do what I do for any claps on the back, but because I believe communities can help themselves most of the time - they just need the resources to be able to do things.
What I get a little peeved about is that we had 54 kids come along, mostly with parents who are at home for whatever reasons and yet none would help out.
It drives me crazy!!

After working all week, I had to go out early this morning to buy all the prizes for next weekend as no one else would do it. I might add I am also the secretary for this local group and we have 16 members but of those 16, I would say there are five that are active. Only for my partner coming with me, I would not have been able to manage it all!

For goodness sake, if you are in a community that has an active group or groups organising events, go help if you can! They will be extremely thankful and appreciative and you will get far more out of it than you put in!! This is why I have been involved for more than 20 odd years.

Sorry for the rant. No need for replies......just need to get that off my chest!!!
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Comments

  1. Rana's Avatar
    yes we must support our local communities.especially the children. we can show them the way . xxx good work lorri dearest xx
  2. Anjou's Avatar
    This is an important post, Kiran, because it serves as a good reminder, even among those accustomed to reaching out and sharing.
    I have learned that, regardless of the effort made, only a small fraction of folks are able (or willing) to donate their time to others, especially those with busy lives and personal demands.

    I tend to concentrate on grooming those who express interest (no matter how small), and this individual attention has paid off for me. Luckily, when I stop trying to recruit large numbers of the mostly disinterested, I find that, by sparking an interest in one or two, those individuals eventually spark a similar interest in others. It takes some time and effort, but, ever so slowly, there are genuinely good-hearted people who pay it forward. Patience is so required, however
    .
  3. Kiran's Avatar
    Thank you for sharing your thoughts Anjou....always a delight hearing from you honey
  4. Kiran's Avatar
    Thanks Rana...your support is always welcome