Joys of Volunteering

October 31: Both kids were dressed for Halloween. At least Sophia was. The boy didn't put much effort into his costume. Both were strong readers today and loved the candy corn stickers. I even got wished a Happy Halloween! so sweet.

October 26th - We screened at Dan's alma mater, Downers Grove South. Despite having attended screenings there before, something got to me this time and made me teary. Maybe it was because there were 9 Carillon residents who joined me to save lives. We all dressed in blue. I thought of all of the times I dropped Dan off at school before he had a car, yelling "I love you" to embarrass him. It didn't. He yelled it right back. I saw a girl who looked like Jaime Drendel. I was glad to let her know - thank you Facebook. It took me back to so long ago when life seemed so full of possibilities with the kids. I was honored to screen AnneMarie, Barbara Erickson's granddaughter. She even recognized me. So sweet.

October 24th - Normally we read with each student for 15 minutes and today was no exception. The first little guy clearly had memorized his 2 books. One was "I Went Walking." I think we've read this book every time so far. Anyway, back to the student. He was adorable, as they all seem to be. As we read, he kept making a muscle and eventually asked if I wanted to feel how strong he was. Who could resist? Then he kept flexing as we finished each page, changing the orientation of his fist from facing out to facing in and back again - obviously learned from someone older or seen on television. He stopped at one point to let me know that he works out, lifting weights and demonstrated that he lifts a kettle bell to. He was very excited to pick out two stickers: one candy corn that had on sunglasses and another that was sticking out its tongue. So cute!

After Joyce Parkins joined the group of volunteers from Carillon, which included Judy Wido and myself, I started thinking about whether I could ask others. I contacted the CAMA office, who agreed to send something out via an email blast if I would draft it. That email blast went out - minus the YH4L logo - on October 16th. Within a couple of hours, I was receiving phone calls from Carillon women who were interested in learning more and possibly volunteering. I think they really liked that I offered to drive them to training and the screenings. So, on Wednesday, October 18th, I drove 4 others (Joanne Carrara, Glynis Weigel, Ellie Barich and Jaki McGrath) to training and then instructed them on how to provide an ECG. On our way home, we decided to wear blue shirts for the next day's screening to stand out from the school volunteers who wear white, the technicians that wear red, and the team leaders who wear white lab coats. The idea of "Carillon Cares" was born. Other C...

October 4th - After finishing up the volunteer instruction at St. Laurence High School in Burbank, I walked with Jamie Faber to my car. I was going to drive her around the building to her car since it was very dark and deserted. I wanted Jamie to be safe. As we started to drive, I saw a rat scurry up ahead, right where she would have been walking! When I said, "Look, a rat," she didn't see it and thought it might have been a squirrel. But ...when we got closer, she freaked out a little bit, realizing it was a rat at full run. The next week, at Naperville Central, we both shared that we had seen a newscast that said that Chicago is now the rat capital of the nation and thought of each other instantly. Nice to know that's how we will remain connected 😏!

In October 2017, I started reading with first graders at Lakewood Falls Elementary School right here in Plainfield. A call came out from the CAMA office soliciting volunteers. When I found that it is just 30 minutes a day for as many Monday-Thursdays as I wish, I signed up for Tuesdays. Bristol neighbors Geri O'Brien and Pat Mankoff also volunteer on Tuesdays. October 3rd - I started with Nathaniel. He struggled with reading, but willingly sounded out the words from his book on bugs. Nathaniel was also very interested in the pictures and drawings, which were of interest to me too. He let out an adorable giggle when he sounded out butterfly letting me know it had "butt" in it. I was hooked. I learned from the other volunteers to give the students stickers. So off to the store I went to get stickers based on Halloween (candy corn), Fall, and snowflakes.

After many years of volunteering for various organizations, I decided it was time to create this treasury of stories and events to read and cherish. From weeding the garden at a local convent to going door-to-door to collect dimes and quarters to help with research for a cure to Cystic Fibrosis, using the example I saw from my mother, I started volunteering as a young kid. Looking back, obviously safety wasn't a consideration as I knocked on doors inside apartment buildings to gather those coins. The focus for this blog will be now and the future. I have volunteered with the People's Resource Center in Wheaton, as an ESL instructor as as a computer literacy instructor. I lost my desire for this when Danny died.