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May 19, 2003
Volunteering
My new volunteer gig is great. I expressed interest via VM, and was contacted a few weeks later. They're call Ala Costa, and they are a school for mentally impaired students from 5 - 22 years of age. They needed computer help.
I've been volunteering several hours per week the last few years, but most of it is pro-bono web work. My only interface with the non-profits is email. I wanted to re-establish an outside link, and work with people, not just bytes.
Anyway, I got in my car (I was running late, had five minutes to get there to be on time - didn't want to be late on my first day) and headed in the direction I thought best to get to an address I didn't precisely know. It was about a minute later, a half a mile away I realized I was going the wrong direction (thanks to street signs with address ranges). I turned on Rose street only to find myself a mere 1/2 block from my house, in front of a building I walk by every morning and most nights. I walked in, and here was Ala Costa.
It's amazing that I've lived in my house for 3 1/2 years, and never knew they existed.
It was a great experience. I learned about the organization, got a tour, and then got started.
My first assignment was a touch one - the solution I thought would work, didn't. I started getting nervous thinking I wasn't going to be able to help them, and i thought I might like them down, all the same stuff that everyone goes through when they are faced with failure. I buckled down, used their net connection to do a little research, tried again, and got the computer to work.
He was grateful, I was elated, and we both agreed I'd stop by again next week.
He said that VolunteerMatch was always welcome to stop by, and that the students put on a talent show every Tuesday at 4 p.m., and it's always a good show.
Sometimes when I'm volunteering doing web work, I forget how important and great it is. I also think sometimes working at VolunteerMatch we might forget that there are people on the other side of this site, who need help, who want to help.
So I guess this is my testimonial. Without VolunteerMatch, I wouldn't have known about this organization, their needs, and the fact that my skill set helped them out of a sticky spot.
Posted by tdotjay at May 19, 2003 09:56 AM
