Listening to Dori and Val talk about volunteering on this weeks More Hip than Hippie Podcast, I was thinking about how good it feels to volunteer. I don’t do it tons, but I know that every time I do it I walk away feeling really good about it. I feel like I’ve gotten more out of it than the people I’ve helped.

The best volunteering experience I’ve had so far, is when I volunteered with my family. My husband, twin boys and I went over to our church and helped do some landscaping. We planted trees, pulled weeds, seeded grass, and put in some cement blocks to mark off a drain pipe so the grass wouldn’t grow up around it. Everything still looks beautiful, and I know our help was needed and appreciated, but the best part for me was spending time with my family while having our hearts and minds fixed on helping others. It is a great feeling.

Even now, almost a year later, when we’re at church you could very well hear one of my boys pointing out the trees they planted or the blocks they placed oh so carefully.  They feel good about what they’ve done, they’ve helped others, and we were able to build a family memory that will last a lifetime.

If  you’re looking for a way to reach out and doing some volunteering, I would strongly suggest visiting Volunteermatch.org. I’m always amazed at the variety and number of opportunities there are to serve.