A worthwhile cause…

I’ve only volunteered a couple of times in my life.  I mean, I guess I’ve offered to help out in the past, but I’ve barely sought out opportunities to help out in my spare time.  I probably never thought I had enough of it…

And there are no shortage of opportunities out there.  In Ottawa you can visit www.volunteerottawa.ca where you can search by interest or just browse a list of posts to find something you think you might want to do.  I imagine every city, town and community has there own network that can be checked out, if you have a few hours you want to spare.

I’m not sure why I checked on the day I did, but I found an opportunity to help out with the Gingerbread Event for Mothercraft Ottawa.  I recognized the name from when I was pregnant.  A friend told me about their free pre-natal yoga classes, which I then signed up for and attended.  But Mothercraft is so much more than that.

The program that the Gingerbread Event is fundraising for is called the Birth and Parent Companion Program.  Having known several women in my lifetime who could have or have benefited from programs like this, it reminds us how important they are….and that we should support them in any way we can, no matter how small.

My Sunday starts early.  I have to arrive by 6 am, and then I will spent the better part of the day building gingerbread houses.  It’ll be a long day, but really, I’m not sure I’d consider this work.  I only wish I could bring Jaia along who I know would adore every part of building the houses (and eating the candy).

I once had a friend who was a regular volunteer.  She actually spent two or three nights a week working at a distress hotline answering the phones.  I always envied her courage and her commitment.  Choosing to volunteer for something like that can’t be easy.  But she loved it.  She used to say that if you aren’t passionate about your job, do something you are passionate about in your off hours.  And she did just that.  And at the end of her days, she felt like she had made a difference.  And she had.

And that makes it all worth it.