From a Loving Volunteer, Bless Our Volunteers

Copyright 2013, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

I was recently contacted by a volunteer over at The Ships List.  Yes, she contacted ME!  That alone deems many kudos.  Bless our volunteers that go way above the call of duty.

Seems she does a bit of snooping on online genie forums looking to match up information the The Ships List with old queries.  She wrote me a tentative type email, like, mmm, is this email still viable.  Well, yes, it is.

She then sent me the link to the manifest of the  St. Lawrence - 2nd trip up, Quebec to Montreal, May 11th 1831 ... left at 11 o'clock P.M.  Line 77! Richard Lashbrook and family.

The numbers and the ages match up fairly well, the destination and time frame work fairly well.  I will continue to review this, but, it may be this is Man's g-g-g-grandfather and family making their way from Devon England to Clinton County New York.

Something I never expected to find.

Bless our volunteers.  Thank you Susan!  Tis great work you do!




*  Graphic thanks to Clker.com

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Ode to - - - On a Sentimental Sunday

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Man's mother was religious and loved volunteering for the Red Cross.  The following was found among a collection of awards and information covering her 20 years of Red Cross service.  There is no name to give credit to, no publication data, it is obviously a photocopy, and she kept it for years, so, it meant something to her.

Ode to a volunteer

Many will be shocked to find
When the day of judgement nears
That there's a special place in Heaven
Set aside for volunteers.

Furnished with big recliners,

Satin couches and footstools,

Where there's no committee chairman

No group leaders or carpools.

No eager team that needs a coach

No bazaar and no bake sale,

There will be nothing to staple

Not one thing to fold or mail.

Telephone lists will be outlawed,
But a finger snap will bring
Cool drinks and gourmet dinners,
And rare treats fit for a king.
You ask, who'll serve these privileged few
And work for all they're worth?
Why all those who reaped the benefits,
and not once volunteered on earth.

Where would we be without volunteers?  In a case of hurt, that is where.

* Millie was the juice and cookie girl, who watched to see if you were gonna pass out after giving blood.  If you did, she caught you.

**Graphic courtesy of webweaver.nu

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Volunteerism, The Rest of The Challenge

When I first wrote my entry for the 88th Carnival of Genealogy the following is what I wrote, then I re-read the challenge and realized, ooops, off base a bit. So, I went back and rewrote the entry, discussing my volunteer efforts. I don’t particularly like talking about what I do, giving for me comes from the heart. Rather than just delete what I had written, I now present it, what I really wanted to say about Volunteering.

VOLUNTEERING, PART TWO

My experience in volunteering gives me what I think is a bit of a unique advantage, as I have been a volunteer and have been the coordinator of several projects overseeing volunteers. So, I would like to chat about some other facets of volunteering.

I DON’T HAVE TIME

Volunteering can be a HUGE part of your life, it can take up giant hunks of your time. OR NOT!! Many organizations asking for your time will take an hour, or even less, if that is all you have to offer. Organizations always seem to be begging for help, believe me, they will take as much or as little as you have to share.

I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO OFFER

You don’t have to be super talented or experienced, you only need to WANT to give back, the organizations will train you, and honestly, a lot of the duties are not that hard, they just need to be done, someone simply needs to take a hunk of time to “get er done”. YOU CAN DO IT!!

START WITH BABY STEPS

Don’t over extend yourself. Start small. Believe me, if you take on too much you will start to resent the time and energies required. I would rather have 10 volunteers each doing 10 minutes a day, than 1 who tries to take on commitments of 10 hours a week. Be realistic about your life, your other commitments, figure in emergencies, job time, family and home maintenance time, and then put in a fudge factor for any other “situation” that comes up, how much time is left?? Save a chunk of that for YOU (reading, the bubble bath, sitting and watching the birds at the feeder). NOW, volunteer! You still have time, it is up to you to choose how to utilize the 24/7/365 you are given each year.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO OFFER?

I think one of the most compelling reasons to volunteer is that you are familiar with the locality. I know what the rules are at the courthouse, I know where to find obituaries in my county, I know what resources are available. My knowledge is what allows me to help others. You have that knowledge too, here is a great way to share it and really make it count!

GOOD MANNERS, THANK YOU

Another one of my soapbox subjects concerning volunteering is THANKING THEM! Bottom line, you asked someone to take time from their lives to help you. THANK THEM!! It will not take you as long to thank them as it did for them to help you! Thanking your volunteers will do a lot to keep them on the job. We all want to be appreciated, recognized. Volunteers that never hear thank you, well, they go away. I feel strongly enough about thanking volunteers that I have written several posts about just that, one was Is your volunteer a bit prickly? Which was followed up shortly thereafter by Volunteers, escorted away??

GOSH DURN IT FEELS KINDA NICE HELPING OTHERS

Need an upper to keep ya going?? Well, let me tell you, helping others is the greatest natural high you can have - short of breaking down that brick wall after 15 years of trying. A few years back I did some lookups for a gal. She was looking for underlying medical illnesses, searching hard for answers to why her children were afflicted with some rare disease. No, we did not find the answers to that question, but I did find her grandmother’s death and obituary. I wrote her an email, outlining my finds. Her response was so emotional, I swear I could hear her tears. Yep, a pure and simple “feel good” moment.

VOLUNTEERISM, A VERY GOOD THING

Try it, small baby steps, one obituary at a time, one cemetery visit, one headstone at a time. You can do it, and you will make a difference to someone. Wanna smile, wanna feel good about you,

VOLUNTEER.

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88th Carnival of Genealogy, Volunteerism

The topic for the next edition of the 88th Carnival of Genealogy is: Volunteerism! Here's a chance to toot your horn about whatever genealogy projects, organizations, or events you voluntarily give your time and efforts to. What do you get out of volunteering? How did you decide what to volunteer for? How much time each month do you spend volunteering for genealogy projects/organizations/events? Is there an organization or project you'd like to recommend to others? Tell us all about it! This carnival is hosted by Jasia over at Creative Gene.

Now, here is a subject that is close to my heart. I was a volunteer at a local LDS FHC for a number of years. I ordered films, filed em away at the end of the day, all those librarian type duties, but the most rewarding part was helping newbies get started on their research. So happens this is where I met cousin Anne ( Gene Notes ).

I served as the president of the Lenawee County Family Researchers for 10 years. I wrote a lot of president messages during that time for inclusion in the club’s newsletter, a number of those articles were about volunteering.

I did a little time at the local historical society, I have done lookups for researchers from afar.

Come summer you will find me stomping around a cemetery or two. I currently have 1.76 gigs of data on my computer for this project. Believe me, the majority of that work has been done by other Lenawee County volunteers. They have donated hundreds of hours to the project, I am humbled by the responsibility of the guardianship of those records.

I help the Lenawee County Family Researchers, the local genealogy club format resource books, we have published six cemetery books and several others as well. The club provides the stimulus and the software, I provide a bit of creativity and computer skills and together we preserve resources for other researchers.

I have done a bit of teaching. Actually, I think this is the volunteer duty that I personally enjoy the most. Several years ago in a campground we stayed in I started an informal genealogy group, where we gathered once a week and chatted about our favorite sport. Soon it became evident that they wanted more formal sessions, so, the next year, I came prepared to teach. I had a blast! And the feedback was so rewarding, I mean, does it get any better, when one of your students stops you in the street and is so excited about a HIT they found with a HINT they learned in your class? Teaching involved a lot of prep time, but the reward was SOOOO worth it! I am currently not teaching, but, just give me an opportunity and I would gladly do so, I even have my projector along with us, gotta be prepared!

Yours truly, teaching away.  LOL

I have a blog that is pure volunteerism, Lenawee County Bibles and Bible Records, (This blog has been removed since the onslaught of the European rules and laws, I have no idea if it will return, we are certainly sorry.). I found old fading Bibles at the Lenawee County Historical Society and I became obsessed with preserving them. Many of the transcriptions were published in the Lenawee County Family Researchers newsletter, then I got permission to put them online. They have had several homes, moving them is quite the chore, I hope this blog is the last home I have to move them into.

Over the last 19 years or so, all of my volunteering has been family history related. It is fun, it is rewarding, I have a bit of researching skill and want to use the gift to help others. Why do I volunteer??  This says it all for me:

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.." -- Luke 12:48 New International Version

*  I feel rather uncomfortable having this post be all about me. Since the rest of what I have to say does not fit the parameters for the Carnival, I will publish two posts, noting that the second one is the one I really wanted to write!

** Poster by footnoteMaven

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Is your volunteer a bit prickly?

Is this your volunteer???

Gosh, I hope not, but, if so, why might it be that your volunteer got so prickly? Surely, when they started volunteering, they were not in such a state? What might have caused this morphing from a happy volunteer to a prickly one?

• They are not feeling well? Maybe they have an underlying health issue, known or unknown.
• They have family issues, again, might be health, might be a death of a close family member, grieving takes time and energy.
• Money??? The way the economy is, need I say more??
• Time? Maybe the time involvement is more than your volunteer bargained for? Or, since any of the above issues may have come into play, maybe their available time has dropped off dramatically. Maybe they changed jobs, new one is more demanding.
• Demands of their loving public. By this I mean, the researchers that are asking for assistance demand TOOOOOO much. Maybe your volunteer will hunt and copy obituaries from the local paper. You ask for one, you get one, you come back for another, maybe 2, you get more, maybe 2. Now you say, okkkkk, hitting the mother load here, I am gonna ask for ALL I need or want. All is how many?? 5, 10, 45??

Let's look at one more reason your volunteer is prickly - - DO YOU THANK THEM???

I read comments from volunteers all over the Internet, so many of them are never thanked. They take time out of their busy lives to do nice things for people they have never met and never will, and those recipients of their kindness never have the decency to say, THANK YOU.

No wonder the volunteers are prickly.

And, let me tell you, they go from prickly to MIA.

Volunteers are priceless, can we afford to loose them??

*Photo is of thistle in my yard. This prickly volunteer is not welcome, but it does make a great visual for this blog entry.