January - The Beginning that Almost Ended!

Time. Now that my masters degree is finished, I will have so much time on my hands! No more studying and no more papers to write! I can do anything I want now, right? Well, not so much! Now it’s time to catch up on everything I had let go while attending school. You know, time for a thorough cleaning, not just touching up visible surfaces! Trust me, I learned so many tricks to make my home look presentable without deep cleaning. Also, my dogs are seriously overdue for a grooming! My three little fur-babies can’t see beyond the layer of fur in front of their eyes!

Before I realized that my free-time was not boundless, Michelle and I concocted the idea to give back a year-of-volunteer. I was all in, “Let’s do it!” We got so excited about the opportunity of doing good deeds and the ideas started flowing. Then we added the prospect of social media to share our stories. The adrenaline was pumping and before I knew it, I volunteered to make a website too! It was then that the panic set in.....I'm committing! Can I really do this and work full time? And what about my dogs, they just started to see again! And there it was….the hesitation. I think this happens to many of us, our fear of committing and then worrying that it might be too much of a demand on time.

Our brainstorm culminated with a commitment to volunteer once a month to start, an instagram page, and the website. We would find one-day opportunities to volunteer and spend that one day doing good and giving back. Easy enough! But just like that, it was January, our first month to give back and we had no plan! We didn’t want fail at our new project the very first month! Michelle had a great idea to donate goods for January. The school she worked at was collecting food donations to support a local food bank. So she did a little extra shopping along with her own groceries and I Venmo’d her my half of the donation. While this does not seem like a big deal, it was still the give-back-girls' start! Read Michelle’s blog for a nice encounter she had that sewed the seed of goodness.

Many people donate all the time, through drives, drop boxes, and churches. I volunteered years ago in a food bank below a church. First, I never realized the food bank was even there. Second, I was amazed at the process of managing the donations and moving the food efficiently. Third, I was so surprised at the need, even within a town considered fairly affluent. If you are interested in donating or volunteering at your local food bank, Feeding America has a nice site to get you started. You can find your local food bank there, what to donate, and equally important, what not to donate. Did you know that you can do something as simple as thanking a food bank volunteer!!! Here is where you do thats simple act of kindness. Food banks can use monetary donations to purchase perishable goods and fund the cost of getting food to the hungry.

Using this simple act of goodness allowed us to stay on track and more forward with our plan. It was time to plan for February and beyond. This year-of-volunteer project will be good on so many levels. Good for those that will benefit from our donations or service, good for those that get ideas from our blog and get to share their experiences, and of course, good for us too!

Thank you for reading along! I hope you are able to enjoy our experiences and consider sharing your stories of giving back. Watch for February’s give-back day when Michelle and I find ourselves buried in glass!