Gaining Balance Through Giving and Receiving

Original Post: May 5, 2009

A lot of people don’t look forward to Mondays.  It’s usually the start of a long, jam-packed, stressful week — and these days, it’s an even longer week as people work more hours to show their commitment and try to lessen their chances of getting laid off.

At times like these it’s important to bring balance back into our lives.  And I found myself very much looking forward to Monday this week because I had a volunteer appointment with the Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP) in San Francisco.   The charter of HPP is to end family homelessness.  They do this by offering a variety of programs, including helping families find homes, providing drug and family counseling, prenatal and parenting education , family violence prevention, ESL classes, computer classes, and on-the-job-paid internships that prepare formerly homeless mothers for the workforce.   On the day that I volunteered, I distributed food to homeless families. To donate or give the gift of time to HPP, click here.

Now is a great time for us to pitch in, forget our own problems for a little while, and gain perspective and balance by helping those who are struggling with life’s necessities — food, shelter and safety.  There’s no gift like the gift of hope.  And lucky us, there are  so many opportunities for giving.  You can find the cause that resonates most with you through Volunteer Match, or view a calendar of volunteer opportunities at One Brick.  If you’re interested in giving abroad, check out Kiva, the first person-to-person microlending website that allows you to give microloans to the working poor in developing countries.  Today, I loaned money towards a Cambodian woman’s purchase of two cows for breeding and plowing her small plot of land.

A funny thing about volunteering, giving can be extremely rewarding.  My good friend Lisa met her future husband while at a One Brick volunteer outing — they got to know each other while planting flowers in the Golden Gate Park.  A year later I attended their wedding.  Giving and receiving very much go hand in hand.

I hope this blogpost inspires you to give, and I would love to hear about your experiences with volunteering.  Please share your story by adding a comment!