Volunteer Opportunities Abound

Volunteer opportunities abound all over this City, State, and throughout the country.
I have always believed that volunteering is important and necessary.
I have also put my belief into action.

Most of my early years of volunteering were spent as a softball coach, chaperoning school field trips, and occasional church projects.

In 1993 we moved to Kearney and my volunteering became more deliberate.
Our oldest dayghter was refusing to participate in church youth activities,
so I began assisiting the youth minister dragging her along with me.
6 years later I became the youth minister and remained so until 2006 when we moved to Oregon.
It was a great opportunity for me.

Out of boredom I found myself on a Habitat build site shortly after making the move west.
Within 6 weeks time I stood in a room full of mostly young twenty-somethings in Provo Utah, right hand over my heart, left hand raised taking the Americorps VISTA pledge.  (Volunteers In Service To America).  The next 12 months held an incredible experience of volunteering with Habitat through the Americorps program.  I am grateful to have had the chance to serve and volunteer in this way.
My year of service leapfrogged me into 25 months of working on staff for Habitat for Humanity.
In December, I quit.

I have been looking for other opportunities to volunteer, and I found a few....
some with youth ministry,
a couple of school field trips...
and I am still volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.

But I need more.
I want to volunteer in a new area.
I want to volunteer at something different, something fun!

What better place than serving beer at a brewfest in a garden?

I like beer!
I like flowers!
I like being useful and helpful.
I like that enthusiasm at a brewfestival.
I like watching people and crowds interact.
I think it is a perfect volunteer opportunity for me.
I said, "Sign me up!"

Tonight is my first brewfest volunteer opportunity.
It is at the Oregon Garden in Silverton just a short 30 minute drive towards the mountains.
My son-in-law even has a couple of beers in the homebrew competition, all the way from Kansas!

I am anxious to see how this works out and if Mike wins.
I hope so.

If I enjoy this experience, I hope to volunteer for the mother of all brewfests...
the Oregon Brewer's Festival held in Portland July 22-25, 2010.  Check it out http://www.oregonbrewfest.com.

And watch for the follow-up blog and I'll let you know later how my new venture in volunteering plays out.