Volunteer

by karen · August 12, 2024

Russ and I have adventures from time to time, mostly because we’re willing to get up at 4 AM to chase balloons (once I did that with a wind chill of -42) or SAG (Support and Gear) for century bicycle rides.

A fun photo from the way back (2009) making pancakes for breakfast with fresh stevia leaves in the Gesundheit Institute kitchen while there volunteering for a week.

We also do unglamorous stuff like pulling tires out of places where they’ve been dumped and clearing fallen limbs from a trail on the fly while we’re out for recreation.

In Georgia, it pays to collect your tires in the winter when the snakes are sleeping, or at least slow.

Volunteering isn’t just how we get to go on adventures, though. To some extent it’s a way of life and a lot of our contacts came from meeting kindred spirits while volunteering for one thing or another. If it weren’t for volunteering, our lives would be a lot less interesting.

Russ taking a break while doing trail maintenance.

We haven’t done as much organized volunteering lately because we’re having trouble keeping up with our own lives, but we actively incorporate small helps into our daily lives.

You can help often by picking up trash anywhere from a trail to a parking lot. I nearly always take a shopping bag to the beach to pick up plastics or broken glass while I walk. By opening a door for someone, taking their shopping cart back to the store as you go in, reaching something high for someone in a wheelchair, or yielding to someone in traffic you see how big the small things are.

After Hurricane Helene, I noticed people antsy to get back on flooded trails. I get it, they are accustomed to a certain level of cardio and the feel good hormones that produces. Me too. Helping people also produces that, I’d say in a much deeper way, and the more people help out, the sooner things normalize.

People near and far will need help for months to come. There will be other disasters when this one is over, small local ones, big sensational news events. Most will give you an idea of how you can help. When you turn your focus outward with an eye toward making things better, I promise you will get more than you receive. I’m clearly not talking about throwing money at something here. Money is important, but you’re not going to get the relationships or better understanding with your feel good hormones if you don’t also bring body, mind and heart to the table. Give it a try. It matters.

Here is a sampling of volunteer pages listed alphabetically. Send us a link if you know a great organization that isn’t here.

Appalachian Trail Maintenance

Atlanta Botanical Garden

Atlanta History Center

Georgia Native Plant Society

Good Era Volunteer Ideas

Habitat for Humanity