Getting Involved

Hi, all.  My project question has to do with how an individual can help improve their community.  One obvious answer is to get involved.  In order to get involved in my community (I live in Ashtabula for those who don’t know), I have decided to work at the Garage Sale Bonanza.   Don’t let the name fool you.  This sale is a giant revenue booster for our local non-profit organizations.  People from all over the nation donate things they no longer want to be sold at the sale.  A donator chooses a specific non-profit to support when they drop of their items.  Once sold, the money from the item goes directly to the specified organization.  In addition, each volunteer chooses an organization to work for.  For every one hour of work, the volunteer makes $2.40 for their organization.  The sale itself will fill a building the size of a Big Lots store.  Today I was in a giant warehouse sorting and tagging items.  While this doesn’t seem like significant work, it really got me thinking.  Here are two things that came to mind today. 

Where are all the young people?  There are many people in my community who work very hard to make Ashtabula a better place.  But, today I realized that I was working with people who were all over the age of seventy.  While it was a school or work day, I got the sense that no younger people ever help the regular volunteers who work at least three times a week from nine to five.   A community will not thrive and cannot survive if there is no one to follow these older people’s footsteps.  This situation worries me and will be one I will be sure to investigate more. 

Second, the head of the sale, Dick does not turn away any donations.  Even if things seem like trash, he graciously accepts every item.  Here’s why.  According to Dick, the donation process is cleansing.  A person who is giving away something might be doing so to start fresh, or get rid of hurtful memories.  If an item isn’t worth selling, he can receive money through recycling.  Also, after the sale is over, people in need are given the opportunity to have anything they might want that hasn’t sold, free of charge.  Therefore, even if accepting junk is more work, it helps many more people.       

While sorting wasn’t too cerebral, the experience as a whole proved to be thought provoking.  There are no volunteer opportunities Friday but I’ll check back in after another day on Saturday.