Growing up, did you family do things for friends, neighbors and the community?

[Anonymous]

Yes, all of the time. I grew up in a small town and my parents constantly helped out other people. There were involved in the community in multiple ways.

One thing that stands out was that Dad and my uncle were always among the first called when tourists got lost or stranded by snow when hiking in the national forest. They knew those forests well because for years we had a permit to graze cattle there in the summer and my uncle was a logger who had a permit to cut certain trees. I remember times when the phone would ring. Mom brewed this big thermos of coffee, my uncle would pull up in his truck, and he and Dad set off to find them. He's too old for that now and my uncle died a few years ago.

My parents always took food when people were sick or had a birth or death in the family. Mom worked at the bank and helped half of the town balance their checkbooks to the penny. Dad was a carpenter and he helped everyone with repairs on their home. He and our neighbor still tag team everything on their farms. They raise money for Shriner's hospitals, sit on the Farm Bureau board, volunteer to clean up the local parks, volunteer to repair the cabins at the 4-H camp. Mom worked at the polls for every single election. I could go on and on. They are lovely and generous people.

[Anonymous]

My wife tried to get us involved with the PTA and other school related stuff.

I quickly grew to loathe most of the other parents involved in that, since they were the same type of try-hard student council go-getters I couldn’t stand back in high school. Now, I just write a check to the PTA and don’t have to waste my Saturdays on some 80’s themed fundraiser or other nonsense.

[Anonymous]

My ‘parents’ did this to keep up with their Christian charade. They would offer rides, cook meals/deliver them, run errands, offer up a bed, and they took in over 10 children.

She was always honored for the work she did ‘for the children.’ None of the children she took in had proper paper work, and they carried out most of her ‘charity.’ We were pretty much Restaveks.

I continued to volunteer in high school for scholarships, and then for youth in foster care/transition today.

[Anonymous]

My parents — well, mostly my mom — did a lot of volunteer services through her church, kids schools, and neighborhood groups. She was a SAHM and considered community service work as part of that job. DH’s mom was similar. I am now the primary breadwinner in our family and don’t have time for much except our neighborhood mutual aid group. My DH is the SAHP but it would never occur to him to make food for a new parent or grieving neighbor, help organize a school fundraiser etc. He feels unqualified and ill prepared to do those things, I think. I wish he would because it would be a great example for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Yes and yes- though I volunteer more then my parents did they certainly set the example. I try to do the same for DC. Most of our volunteer time is through school, church, scouts and sports. Every year DC pick a charity (or two) and they can make money to donate. Once they hit ~9 if they had birthday parties they did fund raisers.

[Anonymous]

My dad did when I was very young, but then he and my mom split and he was too busy being a single parent.

I would love to help out our community more, but my H is very much against it. If I buy someone a meal, or offer to watch their kids, or whatever, he throws a tantrum. He’s very “well they should have thought of that before they became poor/got sick/had kids!”