Today I was scheduling and trying to prioritize my time and I looked at what I do in my spare time and what I have done. To be honest a lot of my spare time is spent in front of the computer screen working on projects, Skyping friends and writing blogs. But where I can I like to give back and volunteer my time.
I recently received an email from Anglicare Victoria who provide support to over 70,000 children, young people and families every year. This email was a little out of the blue because the last time I heard from them was through an email saying that the funding had been cut for the Boys To Men Program and their Peaceful Warriors Program both in which I was involved in.
It was a small commitment to have a big impact in these children’s lives, many who have come from challenging circumstances, lack a male role model in their life or are struggling with discipline issue at school.
The time commitment is very minimal every Tuesday night I would go down a volunteer for 3 hours and kicked the football or shoot some hoops and we got some group activities happening. Because of the amount of volunteers there it is easy for the children to find someone they get along with and are able to just have a chat to. The program was so beneficial and I saw a lot of change in these children.
I was frustrated the funding was cut but at the same time not overly surprised. Cuts are always made to valuable programs like these because unless you have seen it firsthand it is just put on the shelf as another expense to whoever funds the program. I don’t know enough about how the funding works to be able to comment on it any further.
Today I got an email saying that they had Anglicare saying that funding had been received for the Peaceful Warriors Program but on a smaller scale so they are really having to fine tune the program to make it as cost efficient as possible.
I’m excited because these are the types of programs I love spending my free time on. You get out of the programs just as much as what you put into them.
My road to getting involved in volunteering started when I started my Raggers Journey. It was one of my goals to do some work in my community and volunteer my time and it has been a great experience.
The moment I got back from Camp I wanted to coach at a disabled sports clinic with Proactivity however they have already filled all the coaching positions. I decided to offer my services as a videographer and film the event for the crew. Being able to capture those smiling faces was priceless.
Take a moment today and just think if you have the opportunity to give back in any capacity make it happen!
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