You may remember the fairytale about the elves who made shoes at night while the shoemaker slept? When he awoke, all these marvelous shoes were lined up in his workshop. I've always secretly wanted elves.
Well, having volunteers is like having elves. Take Jodi Neal. She might find it more flattering if I compare her "Radar O'Reilly," the character from MASH (TV reruns and old movie) who knows what the general wants before the general knows it.
Elf or "Radar," 90+% of the time, when I ask Jodi to enter data, call someone, copy something, whatever--she's already taken care of it. Jodi volunteered over 500 hours between September and October. I can't imagine what our Parent Support and Getting Ahead programs would have been like without her. With her help, we were able to stretch the dollars we received from United Way and other donations to serve many more people than we ever could have without her.
Same with Peg Wachenschwanz. Peg donated over 100 hours co-facilitating our Getting Ahead classes, calling participants, giving them rides, helping with paperwork, who-knows-what-all. And Fatina Evans and Betty Van Gundy, who teach parenting programs in the jail. And Susan Jones, who teaches How to Talk So Kids Will Listen programs at MHALC. And Darcy Oakleaf, who updates our database, photographs our kids' programs, and fixes my file cabinet when the drawers stick.
These are just 6 of the elves, I mean volunteers, in our Volunteer Brigade. Other volunteer jobs range from stickering newsletters to running a support group, depending on your interests, skills and availability. You can check out over 50 job descriptions for MHA volunteer opportunities at http://tinyurl.com/2vm88o.
By the way, when do elves sleep? I'll have to remember to ask Jodi. She'll probably tell me before I ask her. It's downright spooky sometimes.
--Judith Waite Allee
Parent Support Coordinator
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