Step By Step

I think I probably started volunteering when I was seven.

Give or take a year, that's how old I was when I joined Girl Scouts. Ours was a troop that focused on helping others who were less fortunate than us. We helped orchestrate canned good drives and other projects that aimed to support those in need.

Even as a little girl in a Brownies uniform (yes, complete with the brown, felt beanie), I felt the *warm fuzzies* that come with doing a good deed.

As I got older, volunteering was something required for my confirmation in a suburban Cincinnati church. I think we were expected to fulfill 40 hours in a designated time frame - a fair accomplishment for a group of 15-year-old 8th graders.

Some of my time was spent at a local senior citizens' home, making crafts, singing songs and helping the ladies and gentlemen with simple tasks like getting around the facility or maybe eating their lunch.

That was my first exposure with seniors - an experience I appreciate because it showed me the frailty of life at that age. These were folks whose bodies couldn't keep up with their minds. They needed a little TLC and attention to accomplish the tasks they regarded as simple even a decade prior.

My favorite volunteer opportunity involved helping campers at Stepping Stones Center's summer camp. Stepping Stones is a United Way agency partner with programs that receive support from contributions made by donors like you and me.

Stepping Stones offers a day camp that lets children with disabilities explore everything you'd expect at any other summer camp - crafts, nature, swimming, sports and music. At 14, I helped wheelchair-bound kids find the same freedom I found in a swimming pool. We sat at the same picnic tables and enjoyed brown bag lunches after morning craft sessions.

While I experienced the entire opportunity as a volunteer, I was struck by how much fun I had at the camp. My time at Stepping Stones also showed me that people with disabilities were just like me - they had fun in the water and enjoyed forming new friendships over peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and juice boxes.

These young brushes with voluntarism made me realize how important it is to me to give back my time to worthy causes.

Someday when I have children, I'll insist they roll up their sleeves and commit to a few hours of serving others, too.
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Want to find your own *warm fuzzies* moment? Contact United Way's Volunteer Connection to discover opportunities right in your community.

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