BlogHer - volunteering - Comments

I'm honored to be your first read on BlogHer

Britt Bravo — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:05:09 -0500

Welcome to the community!

My first read..

Give And Get NYC — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:02:05 -0500

I'm a new member to blogher and this is the first thing I read. And I couldn't be happier. I was raised in a family that lives to help other people, and i continue to do so myself through volunteering in NYC, mostly through New York Cares, a great organization with tons of opportunities available. I work full time, but its easy to take 2-3 hours a week and give them to someone else. I recently started to write about my experiences, in order to take away the apprehension people sometimes have about volunteering for the first time... But once you start, it's impossible to stop!

Thanks for writing this.. I've been having a hard time finding other people like me, willing to share their stories.. I look forward to reading more on Blogher!

www.giveandgetnyc.com/openforum Please come share your stories !

A life time of service

Britt Bravo — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:12:06 -0500

Thanks for sharing all of the wonderful ways you have been of service, Candelaria. Good luck finding a way to share your love of reading with youth or seniors.

When you help someone

Candelaria Silva — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:08:04 -0500

you end up helping yourself. I recruited and used a lot of volunteers when I was director of an arts program in Boston. The film festival, artists open studios event and youth literary annual, to name but a few, brought together a large group of African-American, White, Latino and Asian volunteers from different neighborhoods in the city and from the suburbs who worked to make the events happened and brought economic and social development into the Roxbury community.

I've volunteered through board service, teaching people to write resumes, giving portfolio feedback to high school artists, etc., and I've always been lifted by the experiences. I am now working on finding ways to share my love of reading at a school and/or senior citizen within walking distance of my home. When you give, you get. Thanks for this post.

blog.candelariasilva.com

examiner.com/x-2478-Boston-Domestic-Issues_Examiner

Good and plenty!

Awesome!

Zandria — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:17:13 -0600

That is so cool that you did that, Deb. Not only did you do something worthwhile, but it sounds like you had a good time, too! :)

Personal blog: Zandria.us
BlogHer blog: Singles/Fitness

this sounds like a big step.

kazari — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:41:38 -0500

Good work : )

Amen Sister!

opalstorm — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:06:20 -0500

I went back to work two years ago after being home full time for over 12 years. When I decided to stay home when I found out I was pregnant with my second child, most of my working friends began to treat me like I had lost my mind or suddenly became stupid.

Since going back to work outside the home, my house looks more lived in, laundry piles up a little faster and higher, but everyone is fed and dressed in clean clothes. LIttle stuff doesn't bother me as much, and I always make time to spend with my family first... all else takes a back seat.

I can clean house when both of my kids are out of the nest.

Tara at If Mom Says OK

Thank you Laurie and Maria

Nordette — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:23:14 -0500

There's so much more on this disaster, recovery efforts, and government's mismanagement of the crisis in both Mississippi and Louisina. Every time we pull off a layer of information, a provocative blog post or video clip, wel find another. Millions of people here and abroad were touched by the tragedy.

"Love is liquid. Brew and be drunkards!" ~~Nordette. And here's a link to the blog.

This is great, Nordette.Thanks.

lauriewrites — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:54:41 -0500

New Orleans moves me in a way that few places I've visited ever has. "When the Levees Broke" was so difficult to watch, I had to do it in chunks. I'm glad I did, though. No amount of editing could have made what was on that screen seem worse.

The response to the storm was a failure from the start, and I'm with Elisa in that it continues.

You've given a wonderful variety of resources.

Laurie

Thank you, Nordette

Maria Niles — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:46:53 -0500

Thank you for this important reminder to not forget and all the links for more information.

Kleenex® Let It Out™ Blog
Beyond Help

9-11 and Hurricane Katrina

Nordette — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:15:08 -0500

Thanks, Elisa, for sharing your thoughts and feelings. I've come across quite a few people who still tear up over 9-11 so many years later. I'm one of them; however, the reports don't tear me up as much as actual sight of what indicates our overall loss. When I lived in New Jersey, every time I'd drive into New York and see the hole in NYC's skyline I'd feel tears rising: I'd recall the day's sorrow and horror. And I've found that many people associate 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina. Both seem nearly unimaginable catastrophes and tragedies.

Now that I'm down here in Louisiana again, a knot builds in my stomach whenever I see the collapsed buildings, but the marked houses that stand overgrown by grass and battered get to me the most. Katina Parker described them in the unposted portion of the interview as marked by "hieroglyphics." Unsettled feelings roiled in my stomach the first time I saw these houses marked with crosses, the number of bodies found in the house, the date the house was checked for survivors, and the symbol of the unit that checked them. You get used to the hieroglyphic- marked houses to a degree, but the sense of loss and suffering doesn't seem to leave.

Naturally those who lived in New Orleans when the levees broke take priority over those of us who called it our hometown but lived elsewhere. Nevertheless, for the longest time since August 29, 2005 I felt like I had no home. I had a sense of loss and nothing being the same again.

I saw part of the movie Fallen with Denzel Washington this weekend and in it he said lines that there are events in our lives that divide time into two parts: one part of time is whatever happened before the event and the other part is life after. For me, that event is the flooding of New Orleans, which I believe as many others do was not a natural disaster but a man-made disaster. Today I find myself referencing time as pre-Katrina and post-Katrina. Life for me will never be the same.

"Love is liquid. Brew and be drunkards!" ~~Nordette. And here's a link to the blog.

Richard Prince's roundup

Nordette — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:13:57 -0500

Thank you, Professor Kim, for directing us to Richard Prince's media round up on Katrina anniversary coverage.

I forgot to mention in my post that this month HBO has been rebroadcasting Spike Lee's moving Katrina documentary, "When the Levees Broke." In Jersey I couldn't afford premium channels; so, I didn't see the documentary until I arrived at my brother's house down here. I was glued to the screen.

"Love is liquid. Brew and be drunkards!" ~~Nordette. And here's a link to the blog.

Here's a guide to special news coverage on Katrina's anniversary

Kim Pearson — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 19:37:02 -0500

Richard Prince has a roundup.

BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

I still tear up

Elisa Camahort — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:03:14 -0500

Much like remembering where I was on 9/11 (a NYC hotel room, as it happens) and still getting emotional if I see anything about it, I still remember watching the Hurricane Katrina coverage, and I still get emotional reading or even thinking about it. Like reading this post.

And so much of that emotion is shame. Shame that that was the best our nation could do for those affected. And I still feel that...perhaps even more so two years down the road with so much left undone.

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.org

Incredible words of wisdom, Amy!

Jennifer Satterwhite — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:52:38 -0500

I think you nailed it on the head when you said that there are times we never feel like we are doing it right. I gave up volunteering at the schools 4 years ago after I got throw into the lion's den and barely escaped alive. Now, I am back on the board and trying again. Why? Because it is something I want to try to do. For me. For the kids. If it doesn't work out, I have learned and will leave it behind.

You are right that balance is what works for you (me!). That is what I need to remember. I just may have to tape that to my computer for when I am feeling overwhelmed. (And in my mini-van when I am driving carpool. And in my notebook when I am in volunteer meetings. And....)

~Jenn~
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