: : : :
The 2009 Day of Service – Martin Luther King Day – takes place this year on January 19, 2009 . Consider spending this day or the weekend being a greater part of your community.
In the Bay Area, there are opportunities as varied as:
- planting ferns in Paradise Park in Tiburon ( 01/17 ) SFGate Website Details
- helping to clean up Ocean Beach with the Surfrider Foundation ( 01/18 )
- visiting with Veterans and helping with the monthly Ice Cream Social at the VA Hospital in Menlo Park ( 01/18 ) VolunteerMatch Website Details
- sorting medical supplies for shipment in San Leandro ( 01/19 )
MLK Day Website Details and MedShare International
- beautification and clean-up of Quesada Gardens in Bayview ( 01/19 )
MLK Day Website Details and Quesada Gardens Blog
- calling your place of worship to volunteer your services for a portion of the day!
- spending the day with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy ( 01/19 )
- becoming an adult literacy tutor in your area ( ongoing! )
(Oakland) Adult Learning & Literacy Providers
(SF) Project Read SF and Project Read Blog
(Peninsula) Project Read Redwood City
(North Bay) Marin Literacy Program and Adult Literacy League of Sonoma County
The opportunities are endless. Do some investigating on your own through your favorite foundation, charity or cause. There really is a little something for everyone!
: : : :
I spent a good deal of time on the last day of the year in quiet. Writing to myself about the past year and the new and improved year to come. I am optimistic about the future, but also struggle on a daily basis with doubts that I am pursuing the right treatment options and wondering how much more my physical body can take. I enjoy thinking and researching about volunteering, and am enviable of those that can commit to such. I have always tried to be a “practice what I preach” type of person. But the dilemma of dealing with an unpredictable chronic illness means that I cannot do physical work and may not be able to follow through with commitments I make. Everything is truly lived in the present. A good place to be, but the real world doesn’t exactly work like that. So I am going to do some more thinking about how I can contribute to my community on an ongoing basis, stay balanced and not overwhelmed, and not martyr myself by exhausting my time for the rest of the week. There is no room for guilt in my life.
That’s a lot of nots and negatives in those sentences . . . a way I don’t normally like to approach things. My ultra-responsible self has always been overly aware of what it means to commit to something and not bail at the last minute. No longer realistic. Will think about it some more, and would welcome other ideas which involve participation on a more spontaneous and less physical basis.
: : : :
Leave a comment
Comments feed for this article