Hard to Help

Just as we moved from 2016 to 2017, I took over as organizer of a volunteer group. I had helped through this group for several years, but for the past few years it had been idling. In December, I started getting emails saying that no one was leading the group and if no one started, the group would go away. I kept hoping someone else would do it but no one did. Eventually, I think it may have been on New Year's Eve, I committed to taking over. At that time we had about 923 members. When emails started going out again, which hadn't happened for quite a while, some members dropped out. However, as I started posting events we started drawing more members. In less than two months, we hit 1000 members; now we have 1074 members! That is pretty amazing. But there is a problem.

One of my favorite places to volunteer (and our other members enjoy it too) is a locally-based non-profit that gathers new clothes for people who need them. When we go in as volunteers, we sort the items based on size. We also make sure there are no rips or stains before we box them up. After that, the boxes are sent all over the country and the clothes (and shoes and jewelry sometimes) are distributed through schools and Boys'/Girls' Clubs. The organization was started by a Holocaust survivor who thought that everyone should -- at the very least -- have decent clothing to wear. We have been in to help many times, but not so many since I've taken over the group. We were scheduled for April 15, which the volunteer coordinator didn't realize was the day before Easter until a few days ahead of that time; she cancelled. So I had to send out an email to all the members who had signed up (we had a full slate and a wait list) and tell them at the last minute, "Never mind."

One time wouldn't have been so bad, but a few days ago I received another email from the volunteer coordinator saying that the organization wouldn't be having volunteers in on Saturdays at all anymore, effective immediately. I had one Saturday scheduled nearly every month through the end of the year. And people had signed up for the next two, one of which is June 3, less than two weeks away. Now I'm going to end up looking like a total flake when I cancel. Part of why I haven't done it yet is that I'd like to have something lined up with another non-profit before I cancel these dates. So tomorrow I'm calling two local organizations, one that helps with housing and one that helps with food distribution.

It's crazy that I have nearly 1100 people ready and waiting to help, and we can't find a way for them to help! It shouldn't be so hard.