Cincinnati Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Do you volunteer?
If so, what do you do and how much time is involved? What do you enjoy the most about what you do?
Re: Do you volunteer?
I volunteer with The Scratching Post, a no-kill, nonprofit shelter for cats. I post the cats' photos on Petfinder.com, write for the newsletter, answer the shelter's e-mail, and operate the sponsor program. (I also do some medical stuff--tests and shots--since I used to work as a vet assistant.)
Boy, it sounds like a lot when I write it all out!
The time committment varies...I go to the shelter pretty much every Saturday to take photos & run tests (1-3 hours). I answer e-mails every day (usually 15 minutes or less). The sponsor program and petfinder take a lot of time...probably 15-20 hours a month depending on what's going on.
The thing I enjoy most is being able to help out the cats who land on our doorstep (without taking in any more myself!). I get attached to the long-time residents, and I have several "favorites" that I wish I could take home...but we're overcrowded here as it is!
The Fluffy Cat says... "Boxes are the best toys ever invented!"
I mentor through Covington Partners in Prevention. I meet with my assigned student (she's 13) once a week for 1-2 hours.
I also volunteer in a kindergarden classroom (Holy Trinity in Bellevue) through Junior Achievement. I go in once a week for an hour and teach assigned lessons.
I love mentoring because I get to do lots of fun activities with her, and she's a really positive person, so I can't help but be optimistic when/after I'm around her. I love the JA stuff because I think that age group is freakin cute and hilarious.
We also just got done fostering our first dog. I really want to do more, but still working on DH
I do not volunteer, but have been looking for a place to do volunteer work. We just donated some books to the VA hospital and when we asked about volunteering time they told us we could sweep the parking lot. I know this probably sounds snotty of me, but that would not work for me. I feel like I need to get something out of it just as much as the organization.
I recently looked into the free store food bank too. Most of their volunteer hours are week days and I have to work. They do have some weekend hours, but I need to look into that more.
My sister knows someone that runs a group of volunteers for the Ronald McDonald house. You cook a meal and clean up. She is getting me on the list for next month. I am pretty excited about that it!
I volunteer with GRRAND, the Golden Retriever rescue that covers greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Louisville and Lexington. I am the contact for the NKY shelters so I pull the Goldens that they get, transport dogs that need to go down to Louisville or vice versa, and coordinate the pet fairs in NKY in the summer. Last year I also chaired the Macy's Shop for a Cause fundraiser. I also help at any of the other events where we have a booth like the Pet Expo or Dog Fest.
The things that I do are very sporadic so it's hard to put a time amount on it but if I look at the number of hours for the whole year it probably averages out to 1-2 hours a week.
My Golden came from GRRAND and I love her so much that I just want to help however I can (except for fostering because I know I would be a classic foster failure). I absolutely love it when I pull a dog from one of the shelters because I know that I'm giving them a second chance and they're on their way to a much better life.
I volunteer my time on the March for Babies walk planning committee. It varies as the walk progresses. More time is spent when the walk is approaching. Right now, it averages about 4 hours a month.
I also volunteer with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. I am on a planning commitee to organize their annual Ladies' Golf Outing. We meet once a month and meet more often as the outing approaches. I will start to dive into other committees through the NKYCC, but right now, I'm just starting small.
Katie: 1/16/08 2lbs. 15oz.
Abby & Emily: 12/31/10 6lbs. 2oz. & 5lbs. 7oz.
I volunteer with the St. Vincent De Paul Society. I work as a call coordinator which is perfect for me because it is something I can do from home with Katherine. I take the incoming calls from people needing assistance and pair them up with the volunteer who will be meeting with them to take care of their needs (rent money, Duke bill, clothing, food). There are three call coordinators so we each take a month. The month I am on I probably put 15 to 20 hours in. The months I am off, nothing.
I also volunteer for lots of single-time events at my church (waiting tables at the spaghetti dinner, transporting donations during Christmas time) because these are also things I can do with Katherine or for which I can get a sitter.
Next month I am beginning to volunteer at a local no-kill animal shelter. What I like is that I can go whenever I want for as long as I want and don't have to have a schedule.
I second that Big Brothers Big Sisters is great. I worked there for a year a couple of years ago, so I know a lot about how it works. Sometimes it can take a while, or some hits and misses, until you find a great match, but there are so many kids on the waiting list that needs bigs and it benefits the kids SO much! We had a lot of matches that had been working tog. for over 5 years, and those big brothers/sisters really do make an influence on the kids life.
I volunteer at Freestore foodbank, City Gospel Mission and I'm an assistant girl scout troupe leader.
I do the freestore foodbank- about quarterly.
City Gospel Mission- monthly (I don't do it every month but my young adult ministry at church does it)
Girl Scouts- two times a monthly and a bi-monthly leaders meeting. I love this activity and it helps me work with young girls.
This is where I am going to start volunteering next month! I'm planning on doing the orientation for both the cats and the dogs so I can work with both. I'm really excited, as this has been something I've wanted to do for a while.
I used to volunteer at a local no-kill shelter (www.aafpets.org). You could drop in whenever you had time and I usually helped walk dogs, play with cats, or sweep/mop. It was fun to do with family or a small group of friends. I had to stop because I always wanted to adopt an animal every time and it's quite a drive from where we currently live!
I don't currently have anything I do regularly. Occasionally I'll do events through Give Back Cincinnati (http://www.givebackcincinnati.org) when I see things in their newsletter that interests me. Generally this is volunteering at special events like Paint the Town, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, Freestore Food Bank, etc. You can go to events as you have time to do them and they are generally on weekends so it works well for me.
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