10 December 2009

Helping out on Christmas day?

| deezagood
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A friend of mine would like to spend her Christmas Day preparing/serving lunches etc… for a charitable organisation, but is struggling to find somewhere where her help is needed. She has checked the usual places (Volunteers Canberra website, Riotact, charity websites) but to no avail. Can any Rioters suggest charitable organisations that are in need of enthusiastic helpers on Christmas Day?

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Oh Thumper – it is the Riot Act after all ….

I hoping my friend goes with the nursing home idea (thanks Friska); I’m betting there will be some lonely old souls who might appreciate some compnay, or overworked staff who might appreciate an extra set of hands. Thanks all (all the nice people who responded here anyways).

I used to regularly volunteer to collect money for various charities, such as red shield appeal, etc. I did this for a number of years, before they stopped asking for volunteer help once a year, and instead started sending me targetted monthly requests for cash. Charities this time of year all seem more interested in money than offers of assistance of time or kind.

While Im sure there are worthy deserving charities around, why not look closer to home? As Aurelius said, youre better off looking to help and spend time with family and friends who could need help just as much as someone on the street.

Also as others have said, those who do volunteer work all year have made their charity connections, in the same way the homeless have made the connection with charity. To those on the street, christmas is just another day. They will probably use the same resources they use year-round.

I reckon they’re just not feeding anyone.

She’s a fairly regular volunteerer, but being Jewish, she thought perhaps she would offer to help out – thus allowing the Christian types to hang with their families. Obviously her help is not needed – so maybe I’ll ask her to do the dishes at MY place 😉 abc!

AussieRodney8:32 pm 10 Dec 09

St Johns Anglican Church in Reid would appreciate her help. They put on a full Christmas lunch for anyone who turns up. Contact St Johns Care on 6248 7771.

http://www.stjohnscanberra.org/home;news?id=54

Charities simply don’t need people on Xmas Day. There are too many once a year types that got dibs on that day months ago.

There are many reasons someone may want to volunteer on Christmas Day. Without knowing the circumstances of the individual such speculation is not helpful to anyone.

She is not necessarily one of those people who only volunteer at christmas, but there are a lot of people like that, so like I said why not volunteer at other times of the year and not get too hung up about christmas day if there is already a surplus of helpers? Besides, if she volunteered during the year chances are she wouldn’t be in her current position, she would already have an existing relationship with an organisation who would want her help.

Try the Anglican or Catholic church out at Queanbeyan. One of them does a Christmas Day lunch thing.

I wouldn’t mind a hand with the washing up at my place

My partner wanted to do something similar. So she called several church-based charities, and some others. Red Cross denied they do anything on Xmas Day. Vinnies and Salvos promised to call her back (even after she rang them multiple times to find details and offer assistance). She mentioned it to several of her friends, who also said “If you organise something, let us know, and we’ll all help out”.
Nothing.
So now, instead of staying in Canberra and volunteering for some charity or soup kitchen or similar, we’re going to Newcastle to make Xmas dinner for my family up there.

And NoAddedMSG – just so you know, there is *not* a surplus of volunteers at Xmas time. Just a lack of organisation.

Try hospitals and nursing homes

How unkind, NoAddedMSG a.k.a. Scrooge – how do you know what other hours this kind person contributes through the year?

How about suggesting your friend help out at some other time of the year when there is a dearth of volunteers, as opposed to at christmas time when there is a surplus of people wanting to feel good about their annual 1.5 hours of volunteer time?

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