Me, Myself and Others: Volunteering In these Challenging Times

Every day I listen to the news and all I hear are things I’d rather not hear! With all the corruption, financial turmoil, natural disasters, sickness and suffering going on, it’s understandable that most people choose to focus entirely on themselves and their immediate family members and not bother about anyone else. “Me, myself and I” has become the attitude for survival, but though times are tough, it is still important to remember and help “others”. Have you ever moaned about a particular issue in your life only to feel really grateful after hearing about a much more serious problem a friend or family member is passing through? You only need to look out of your window to see that you are truly blessed. Our world is far from perfect, but there is so much to be grateful for and so much we can do to make our world/ community a better place for all of us.

You may ask, “How can I help others when I’m feeling the pinch too”?  

Well the idea is to get creative in order to give back. Have you ever thought of volunteering your time or talent to help others? You may be unable to donate money to the less privileged but you are a very good motivational speaker, you can volunteer to become a mentor in a non-profit! You can encourage others with stories about how you or someone you know was able to overcome difficulties and become successful in life. You may also be really good with your hands as a skilled fashion designer, jewellery designer or web developer and you can volunteer in a non profit to teach these skills to vulnerable people who are in desperate need of them.

You may have friends who have the resources to donate and want to donate but don’t know how to, you can tell them about the non-profit you know that needs help! Those shoes and clothing items you have that are so last season can change someone’s life! Call your friends and help them get together the good quality stuff they hardly ever use or have no use for anymore and either make a big donation to a non-profit or hold a garage sale and give the proceeds to a non-profit. So many non-profits are unable to hold fundraising events because they cannot afford to pay for a venue and you may have a spacious backyard that you hardly ever use, donating your backyard for a day can help a non-profit hold an important fundraising event and really make a difference! You can even help them to organise the event and invite your generous friends. It’s all about finding creative ways to give back.

The benefits of volunteering are immense! Volunteering can provide you with renewed creativity, motivation and vision that you can carry over into other areas of your life.  Many people choose to volunteer because of the personal benefits that volunteering has on their character; volunteers often say that the experience has made them a better person. In most cases, volunteers also become more concerned and aware of the problems facing the world and many feel that they were ignorant or narrow-minded before. Volunteering can even help to mould the character of our children. Children watch everything we do and by giving back to the community, we show them how volunteering makes a difference and how good it feels to help others and enact change. Volunteering can help to boost your confidence, you’ll learn and do things that you might not normally get the chance to – this can be a real confidence boost.

Do you want to make a difference in someone’s life? Try something new? Strengthen your community? Teach your skills to others? Solve problems? Then please consider signing up as a volunteer in Freedom Foundation. For non-profits like Freedom Foundation, people are the greatest resource we have during tough times and our need for volunteers has never been greater. Volunteers are an integral part of Freedom Foundation and it is through the efforts of volunteers that we are able to meet many of the goals and objectives of the Foundation.

Freedom Foundation at Magbon Community

Freedom Foundation needs to recruit 100 volunteers by midnight of the 31^st of March 2012. If you have ever wanted to make a difference in the lives of people and give back to your society, now is your chance! Freedom Foundation needs you! Can you help us with data collection/entry, fundraising, research, writing of articles etc? Please sign up as a volunteer today, you can sign up as an individual, a family or a group of friends. As a volunteer, you will determine the hours and mode of your service and we will work with you to ensure that our partnership is mutually rewarding. Remember that no matter how challenging times are, helping others is a rewarding and valuable experience.

For more information, please contact Ugochi directly by telephone: 0805890825 or email: u.ikomi@freedomfoundationng.org

We look forward to hearing from you and signing you up!