Question of the Week: Where Do You Volunteer?

Volunteers: schools, communities and churches can't get along without them. If there were no volunteers, our parishes would have no catechists, our children's soccer teams wouldn't have coaches, and there would be no one to bake cupcakes for the class party. We're all busy, but it's important to find a way to give back--even a small way.

I used to volunteer in the lunchroom at my kids' school, but when one parish school closed, I found that the lunchroom in the new school wasn't a good fit for me. I stuck it out for the year I'd committed to, but dreaded the experience more and more each week. Over the summer, I considered what other things I could do to help at school. I don't enjoy running PTA fundraisers like wrapping-paper sales (though I always contributed to the bake sales) and I'd be useless as a basketball coach. Instead, I approached the school librarian to see if she needed someone to help shelve books for an hour or two a week.

Ten years later, even though all my children have graduated from this school, I'm still shelving books and stamping cards in that library one afternoon each week. It's something I enjoy, and it helps the very busy school librarian to focus on teaching library skills instead of using her time figuring out who has overdue books and putting books away.