If you volunteer and you like it, tell me about it

[Anonymous]

When my youngest went off to college, I started working as a volunteer usher at a local theater. I absolutely love it. The people are great and I enjoy seeing shows, especially the ones that I would not have purchased tickets for myself. I look forward to every shift.

[Anonymous]

I volunteer with a group that cooks and serves dinner at Bailey's Crossroads Shelter once a month. I love it. I have a serious mental illness, but you would never guess it as it is very well controlled with meds and I'm a successful professional who makes a lot of money, blah blah blah. When I'm serving at the shelter, I feel like I'm with my people, more than I ever do anywhere else. Got into this through my church.

[Anonymous]

I volunteer for a local animal rescue group. I started out fostering, now I also volunteer at the facility and help screen potential adopters/walk them through the adoption process.

I am very sensitive to animals and struggle a lot with all the terrible things that happen to them, but I love knowing that I am making a difference in a small way. Find it 100x more meaningful and important than my corporate job.

[Anonymous]

I sub at our local ES. It’s not technically volunteer but the pay is so low I consider it a community service. I enjoy most of the kids/staff and it gives some structure to my day without being a firm everyday commitment.

[Anonymous]

I volunteered as an instructor for the Eddie Eagle program, which is a gun safety program run by the NRA. It teaches kids that “guns are not toys, should never be played with, and can hurt or kill people even if it’s just an accident. The right thing to do if you see another kid with a gun is to leave the area right away and tell an adult.”

I taught hundreds of sessions in various county elementary schools in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, as well as a few privates here in the DC area. It’s possible that I saved a child (or children) from being the victim of a accidental shooting through what I taught them in the Eddie Eagle sessions.