BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids How do you give back to the community?

I do resent frequent criticism of childfree people as "selfish", but I'm also wary of relaxing into a world of upper middle class comfort with my husband, enjoying all our vacations and excellent meals and the yoga classes I have the time and money for. We can get a little *too* comfortable. Sometimes it seems that our free time just centers on the chase after the next pleasurable activity.

Today I signed up for a Saturday volunteer tutoring program at an inner-city school that is operated by my (Unitarian) church. I'm not sure how I'll react to being around kids, but I figured one on one and focused on math or reading would be a good way to start.

I'd like to hear from other CF folks who are active in their community -- volunteering, social justice? what have you enjoyed, and why?

In the past, my husband and I have fostered orphaned kittens for a local animal shelter. We have a house with several pets, so we don't do vacations. (When we both have to travel, we take our dog with us.)

Instead of volunteering with the shelter, I volunteer my time and talents with a local community band and my neighborhood community group. Between the groups, and working on renovations to our old house, I stay pretty busy.

I'm looking forward to being permanently CF. Life won't change much; I'll still stay busy taking care of the house, husband, and critters. I'll have the peace of mind that I'll keep my freedom.

My husband and I also fear upper middle class comfort. I have a serious fear of the suburbs, but that is another story!

While I had a corporate job, I was frequently thinking about that. I did a lot of volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, an organization that focused on meals for the homeless, as well as some animal rescue. Almost two years ago I started working for a nonprofit. My salary is low, upper middle class comfort is no longer a thought! The organization where I work, ironically, serves children. I wind up putting in a lot of extra hours there-and so does my husband. We work with the teens and find we really enjoy it. We joke that we would have kids if they were born at age 14!!

Wow - you guys are doing wonderful things in your communities! And what a great idea to start a thread about this. I too hate the presumption that CF people are selfish. One thing that is working out great about being CF (by circumstance not by choice) is that I find I am able to have the energy and sometimes finances to give to the community. Here are some of the things I do/ have done:

- I adopted a homeless cat
- I take care of my friend's kids sometimes
- I just sponsored three young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend a motivational camp
- I pay $100 a month to provide a six-year-old girl in Nepal a home at a small orphanage, her food, clothing and schooling. This orphanage has been set up by a local NZ woman and in the next couple of years we plan to take some extended holiday and go over there to volunteer
- I work as a marketing manager in non-profit arts organisations and have dedicated my life to bring audiences to the arts
- I am on the board of a not-for-profit organisation that supports local artists
- Every time I am out in my community and I see an old person, child or disabled person who needs help, I leap right on in there, no holds barred...

Over the last year I have had health problems which have limited me, but I try to help as much as I can.

I have donated money to various shelters in the hopes of saving equine lives from slaughter.
I volunteer at HOPE
I volunteer at the local Humane society (where I used to work for a few years)

I've done a fair amount of volunteer work and want to continue to do so. My background is in Sociology and I hope to point my career towards outreach and service. I am currently unemployed and do not have a lot of income, so I understand the importance of these community services.

Bravo to you all.

I give a lot to animal charities in the form of money & supplies; I give to the local political compaigns that I support, and I give to Pro-choice organizations, as well as environmental improvements.

I love this thread! This is something I think about, too. Here are some of the things I have been able to do with my free time:

I have been raising money for the Komen Foundation for the last few years. I made wine charms, earrings etc. and sold them to make money for the cause. I dumped tons of my own money into the jewelry making supplies, and I felt like that was part of my contribution. And, it was a lot of fun.

Our friends opened a coffee shop locally, and I wrote a few press releases for them, which made it into several local papers. They are just starting out, and can't afford advertising yet. So this was free advertising for them.

I am very involved in my nephew's life. I'm the "arts and crafts aunt." I always come up with different crafts to do around the seasons and holidays. I also watch him for my parents whenever I can, take him to movies, etc.

My sister's breast cancer benefit a few years ago: I went on foot and got tons of sponsors, that yielded gift certificates that we used in baskets to sell chances.

Freelance writing: I do this whenever I can. It's what I like to do, but I think it's a contribution to society - a way of sharing your talents with the world.

I worked as a tutor for the local literacy center.

I did promotion for a local event that raises money for cancer patients.

This made me feel better. Thanks for making me think about this.

I have a cushy job at the moment, so it helps if I can do something meaningful outside of work.

When I was in CYO when I was in high school, we helped deliver Christmas presents to underpriviledged families. I would love to try to do this again. Christmas gets boring after a while, just receiving present after present. These people are so appreciate that it brings tears to your eyes.

I am very involved in the local chapter of the House Rabbit Society. I'm a 10+yr volunteer and fosterer for them. All of my rabbits have been rescues. I currently write/edit/produce our chapter's newsletter and help run on of our most successful campaigns.

I also volunteer at our local animal shelter, esp. with our Girl Scout events. We bring in groups of 60 girls (usually from 4-5 troops) and they work on their animal care badges.

I am constantly promoting shelter involvement and adoption to anyone who will listen.

I am a certified volunteer with the EARS program (part of United Animal Nations) and am certified in pet first aid through the Red Cross.

In the past, I volunteered helping ESOL kids (hispanic) with their schoolwork. It was incredibly rewarding and I know I had a positive impact.

We also support a lot of environmental projects, river clean ups, etc. DH is big on environmental stuff - I drive a prius, his truck is flex-fuel.

DH has volunteered with the "Future City" program - engineers help high school kids make models of cities, including infrastructure design (roads, sewers, power, etc.).

Wow! You guys are really giving people! I'm in awe of you.

Our financial situation is grim, but we do what little we can.

As I've said before, I took in a starving stray kitten last year. I can't really afford her, and her vet visits often end up on the credit card to be paid later, but it was either us or the shelter. I couldn't live with the uncertainty of sending her there (and I ran into the little trouble of falling in love with her), so she's sleeping at my feet as we speak, fat and happy.

I'm not sure I've said so previously, but I have a morbid fear of clutter, so we're constantly sorting through our belongings. (My mantra with extraneous household goods is "Purge, Purge, Purge!") I sell very little of it, only the few things that are just too pricey to pass up, like furniture. (Hey, I'm poor. I can't afford to pass up much.) I feel better donating. So extra dishes and kitchen stuff go to YWCA, clothes that haven't been worn to death go to Goodwill, craft supplies go to the public elementary school down the street, the cat's outgrown carrier and old dishes go to the no-kill shelter, etc. There isn't much of any of it, but it's still better than tossing it. Right now, there's a pile of this stuff in a corner of our bedroom, waiting on us to make drop off runs.

I think it's worth mentioning that I learned these things at my parents' knees. They never threw out anything that could be donated and every pet we had was a rescue of one form or another.

That's great. I love Goodwill, too. I got this from my parents, too. I just can't throw stuff out if someone can use it. I love seeing things recycled. We had two dogs that we "found," or they found us.

And let's not forget that you are supporting your guy's child. That's certainly a contribution.