The 10-Minute Volunteer

Working in a high school environment, I have come to appreciate the value of small fragments of time: five-minute passing periods, ten minutes for brunch, and thirty-five minutes for lunch. Usually the adults skip those latter two increments. There is one round institutional clock in every room, sometimes two, each being a few seconds or a minute apart. I have learned exactly how much time it takes to trek from one end of campus to the other: five minutes from the north portables on the Embarcadero side, to the science classrooms in the 1700 building. We move with the sound of the bell, a pattern that has caused me to jump even when I hear a telephone ring: "Time to go," my brain signals.

Today, the clocks and bells sounded louder than ever in my mind, deadlines and expectations mounted with the hours and I soon felt overwhelmed. That's when I usually go into "tidal wave" mode, and just try to keep my head above water: invite 250 students to Saturday school, meet the career day guest speakers and publicize the next event, field parent calls about their students' attendance, find the microphones for today's career day. My jobs at Paly are completely disconnected but somehow I weave threads from one student to the next: one thousand eight-hundred or so of them, and one of me. At 3:50 p.m. this afternoon my nearly-sixteen-year-old daughter Grace called to remind me that I promised to take her to sign up for Drivers Ed. "No way," I thought." I stayed last night until 6:00 p.m. and tonight doesn't look any better." Then I heard something louder than clocks, bells, or telephones in my head; it was the "Cat's Cradle" song by Harry Chapin, reminding me about the fleeting years with my kids.

A substitute whom I had already complained about came in rather abruptly, looking for her paperwork. There were six other people standing outside the door waiting to be helped and I didn't care about anything anymore; I just wanted to go home and pick up Grace to sign up for driving lessons. I'm not sure what was going through the substitute teacher's mind, but she must have seen I was outnumbered. She said, "You know, I have ten extra minutes until my ride arrives so I'm going to give you a hand. What can I do?" I was shocked. I knew she wasn't getting paid to be there, or to do anything more than cover her classes for the day. Exhausted from working alone when there should have been two of us in the office, I pointed to a pile of envelopes and asked her to file them. She fanned out the envelopes and tucked them away, then offered to do another job with her remaining four minutes. "I can see you need some help," she said, as I attempted to take phone calls. She would have stayed longer, but I knew the price of missed driving lessons would be worse than Harry Chapin's warning so I told her the office would close for the day regardless of loose ends hanging. Irene didn't have another assignment lined up for the next day, but by volunteering out of kindness to help for just ten minutes she proved her worth. I arranged to hire her for tomorrow!

Volunteering often leads to paid work, see The Ladders Article:
http://www.theladders.com/career-advice/volunteering-opportunities-pay-off

Fundraise by Fright

When I was about six years old, my two intensely creative older sisters and the spunky girls down the street got together to put on an old fashioned spook alley in our two car garage. They sold tickets for a quarter or so and lined up excited neighborhood children to shuffle through the dark in hopes of a mild adrenaline rush. I distinctly remember the bowls of "spaghetti brains" and peeled grape "eyeballs" which we were encouraged to touch. Thankfully we've come a long way since the sixties; the scale and variety of haunted houses has steadily improved. The neighborhood feel is still there, with schools and community organizations generating hundreds of volunteer hours to showcase their creative talent to celebrate Halloween.

Whether it's just a community building activity at your own home, like my brother's friend Scott, or a fundraiser for your favorite charity, haunted houses are a big draw this year. Jill Soltau, a board member with Gamble Gardens in Palo Alto, CA, thought it would be a good fit for our theatre students to help plan their Spook Alley. The neighborhood elementary school, Fairmeadow, has been a unifying force for the parents to come together in preparing "Scaremeadow," which now contributes major donations to the PTA. And Candle Lighters of Fremont, CA has produced a family-friendly and affordable Halloween haunt for the past 40 years, Ghost House, to raise money for area nonprofits. All of these rely on the talent and time contribution of volunteers to run, and in turn donate valuable funds to community organizations like the gardens, the PTA, and other nonprofit causes.

As a mom of teenagers with their own agenda, I may have to borrow some younger children if I'm to reminisce with a good old fashioned spook alley this year. However, I can still make a difference by either "Trick or Canning," collecting canned food for Gunn High School's Key Club, or the Baskin-Robbins sponsored event "Trick or Treat for Unicef." The latter strikes a chord with me, bringing back memories from the year after the spook alley. I was at a new school, and all the rage was to carry around a little orange Halloween box to collect donations for underprivileged children in third-world countries. As an extremely shy eight-year-old, I eventually got used to the idea of collecting money sometimes in lieu of candy (blasphemy!) The first time I arrived home with a Unicef box full of coins I was quite pleased to see the generosity of my neighbors.The children later took the boxes to school for tabulating the results for class-to-class comparison. I don't remember if I was in a "winning class" for contributions, but it must have been a positive experience as got chills when I saw the boxes had re-surfaced--at Baskin Robbins, of all places.

If you want to feel like a kid again this weekend, try donating to a community organization by visiting a haunted house--99% of them are fundraisers for a cause you can feel good about. If you're motivated to make a difference beyond Halloween, try a "Trick or Canning" event for the local food bank or shelter. Just as fun and not as scary as a haunted house, Unicef can always use our help . When we trick or treat for Unicef and take the coins and bills collected to a Coinstar machine (for locations: www.coinstar.com), we can feel like we are making a difference in the larger world around us. The funds will help to provide these necessities for children: water, school supplies, emergency blankets, and immunizations. When we have so much, and our family-fun holiday starts to look a little gluttonous, it's good to remember part of the fun is giving to others in the immediate or world-wide community.

Check out these ghoulish family fundraising and community service activities!

• http://www.gamblegarden.org/events/events.html

• http://scaremeadow.com/

• http://www.candlelighters.com/

• http://www.unicef.org/trickortreat

Trick or Treat for Unicef

Sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, pick up the small classic orange donation box at 31 Flavors, trick or treat to collect money, then take your donations to any Coinstar Center (see coinstar.com for locations). Learn more at: unicef.org/trickortreat

Relief for Samoa

Heartfelt thanks to Sandra Casillas for sharing this important project with me via Facebook. I've also posted it on Twitter, but with so many humanitarian efforts going in the world these days please spread the word!~ Bina

This week Youth Community Service of the San Francisco Bay Area will be collecting items to aid
those affected by the tsunami and earthquake in Samoa. The following is
information on how you can help. Everything little bit helps!

Tsunami Relief in Samoa
Project We Hope
Tax ID 943342713
Goal is to fill a 20-foot shipping container with supplies by October 20,
2009.

Survival items needed:
Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, body wash, lotion, shampoo, conditioner,
towels, hand sanitizer, etc)
Clothing (all sizes, children) socks, shoes, jackets, sweaters, pants,
shirts, gloves, hats
Large Zip Lock Bags, paper towels, toilet paper, baby wipes, diapers
Crayons, coloring books, books, toys
Non-perishable food items (canned goods, rice, sugar, flour, granola bars,
energy bars)
First aid kits, tents, blankets

Any monetary donations will help. Checks are tax-deductible made out to
Project We Hope (Samoa).

Contact is my friend Tiffany Hautau at cell phone
650-518-0745 or email tiffanyhautau@yahoo.com. Tiffany works at the
Ravenswood Family Health Center.

Items can be dropped off between 9AM and 7PM Monday through Saturday at 1836
Bay Rd. Ste. C East Palo Alto CA 94303.

Their goal is to fill the 20-foot container with relief supplies by October
20 for shipment to Samoa.

Thank you

Leif and Sandra

Youth Community Service
Palo Alto, CA

Honk for Lemonade

Regardless of our crazy Northern California weather patterns and a possible global-warming-induced chilly summer, it's still the season for lemonade stands, garage sales, and car wash fundraisers. It seems my neighborhood has hosted fewer of these gatherings this year; perhaps everyone is out of town? During my typical taxi rounds yesterday I noticed a very colorfully drawn lemonade stand poster and remembered my creed to stop at all such kid-run enterprises to promote youthful productivity. I always feel sorry for the children whose parents forgot to give them a reality check that business would be slow so they need to charge more than ten cents per cup to make it worth the effort.

The Cowper Street kids had it down: fifty cents for a clear plastic cup of pink or yellow sweet lemonade, and seventy-five for half a slice of freshly baked banana bread. I looked in my wallet and only found twenties, then remembered my son Brody's first such money-making endeavor when he sold Minute Maid and my special triple chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were such a hit that one customer gave him a twenty and said, "keep the change." While waiting for my neighbors to help the previous customer, I contemplated their cause but decided as a a school employee I'd better get my change this time. After purchasing for myself and my daughter Meredith, the total due: $2.50. The beautiful young girl began to count out $8.00 as change for my twenty, and I pitched in with a mini math lesson. Counting back the $17.50 proved to be a challenge, she was very careful but obviously drained by the task. I asked her and the little brother if they had to reimburse their parents for supplies? (This was the point where Brody used to say, "No fair, Mom!") The kids responded yes, their parents made them pay back for the supplies to make the lemonade and the bread. By the looks of the Tupperware coffer, they actually stood to make a profit as their prime location on the main drag kept the stand going steady.

When I got back into my car, I sensed that unexpected but undeniable feeling that I had done a good deed today. How, you say, can filling one's tummy with processed sugar and carbohydrates be positive? I know fourteen years ago at age nine, my son Brody and his partner-in-crime Jimmy were given a job to do on an otherwise boring summer day. The sheer excitement of a car stopping was enough to satisfy those two young boys. I will never forget the gleaming smiles when they realized that after expenses they had netted a whopping $35! Who knows how much the Cowper Street kids made yesterday, but they were occupied and feeling good about a contribution to their community. My $2.50 could not have been better spent.

Good Works Cool Community Service Project: Host a Lemonade Stand for Charity

1. Gather supplies from home, or make a shopping list (be frugal, get donations).
2. Choose a local, state, or national cause that you feel strongly about. (Ex: bicycle safety, teen homelessness, earthquake preparedness, etc.)
3. Find an organization that serves that cause, research ways to donate small amounts of cash. (Usually you can find a "donate" button on the website)
4. Make a large, fabulous, colorful sign to advertise your cause and prices of goods to sell. If possible, include a true story of someone who has benefited from this organization.
   
5. Make delicious lemonade and treats.
   
6. Set up a clean stand, with a fresh tablecloth or plastic cover and a cash box (be sure to get some change for large bills).
   
7. Be sure to tell your customers the money is going to your designated cause. You may reimburse yourself (or your parents) for supplies, but IMMEDIATELY after your sale is over and cleaned up take the cash to the post office and purchase a money order made out to the charity that you advertised. Very important ethical issue: DO NOT change causes after your sale, and BE SURE the cash goes straight to the organization. This can be tricky if you have not researched how to send the money before the sale.
8. You can use the same to-do list and concept to host a yard sale or car wash for the cause of your choice, or even try all three.
   

Have fun doing good works this summer, there's still time!

Jenny

The older I get, the less enthusiastic I become about celebrating my birthday. Most of us are this way. If we don't acknowledge another candle on that cake, then we're only as old as we feel, right? But Jenny is the secretary at my work, and she will not allow any of us to be in denial about our birthdays. To her, it's one more reason for a celebration! And it's no small celebration, either. The entire department is invited weeks in advance of the occasion for the monthly birthday gathering. We are all requested to participate heartily with food, drink, decorations, singing, and the works. It's a fun half-hour or so, where we middle-aged kids get to be self-absorbed like teenagers--and we love it. Today, not one of us felt any shame at munching away an entire plate full of carb-laden treats at the party Jenny arranged.

So here's to all the Jenny's of the world, for whom life presents endless opportunities for celebration. She helps all of us who are lucky enough to be around her feel young at heart.