Day 6: Some weekday volunteering
I didn’t used to volunteer much. I’m not sure why I didn’t. I grew up doing various volunteer things as part of the broader experience of Boy Scouts, but after my Eagle Project, and helping a few other on theirs, I didn’t really volunteer. Ever.
I don’t know what made me decide to change that. Maybe it was the new job where they spend a lot of time in orientation talking about the volunteer opportunities and the matching contributions (which I’m going to fully utilize after this month). All I know is that sometime in early February of 2014 there was a post on either Surly’s Facebook page or their Twitter account that said they needed volunteers, and the place they needed volunteers at was in the northern suburbs, close to where I happen to live.
So I filled out the form on the Google Spreadsheet and forgot about it. On Valentine’s Day I got the notification that I was going to be part of it. My first experience volunteering was building dressers for Bridging, an organization that helps provide donated furnishings for those families transitioning out of poverty and homelessness. It felt good, and I was hooked.
In 2014 I ended up volunteering sporadically, almost every other month, some of it was with Surly’s charitable arm, Surly Gives a Damn, at various beer events or fixing things like bikes for kids with Free Bikes 4 Kidz. I also did some events with work, and some with the fan ran science fiction and fantasy convention I attend in the summer. It’s kind of fitting that the last volunteering i did in 2014 was another Bridging event.
This year began with volunteering at one of the beneficiaries of this month long undertaking, Open Arms of MN. Anybody that knows me, even in passing, knows I enjoy my time in a kitchen. So I was looking forward to the opportunity to work with Open Arms and do some meal prep. I listened to the safety briefing, I put on the hair net, I washed my hands, and then I tried in vain to put the gloves on. I don’t think my hands are especially large, but the sizing of the large gloves begs to differ. So I wasn’t able to help with food prep, but I did get to help put the finishing touches on the pre-packaging of the meals, I got to affix the label that contained the name, instructions, and allergen information. I really enjoyed it and really supported what Open Arms was doing, so I asked about the possibility of me working in the kitchen if I was able to find some larger gloves. They agreed and then it went to the back of my mind.
It stayed in the back of my mind until July when I was working as one of the cooks preparing meals for the volunteers at the convention I mentioned. I had to wear gloves, and they had ones that fit me. I was surprised. Immediately after the convention the first volunteer event was at Open Arms again, and I volunteered to deliver meals because I knew they didn’t have the larger gloves that I had just learned about the week prior, and I wasn’t keen on gardening, I don’t think it’s my thing, I wish it was. So I informed them about the gloves and if they’d work I’d order some, they let me know they’d order them and let me know when they were in. But I really liked delivering. I got to see streets I’d never have any reason to drive down, areas of the cities and suburbs that didn’t have destinations, but had people. It was great
So now I deliver every Saturday morning that I’m able.
But tonight I did something I usually don’t do, and the the boat haul helped confirm it over the summer, manual labor volunteering. Tonight we did some work on the greenway over by the Excelsior neighborhood to make it safer and some general maintenance, digging trenches (what I helped with), weed pulling, etc. I was ill prepared and to get to the long crux of this rambling, low on calories.
I know I said the calorie thing was going to come into play later, but I’ll admit, they’re a little low comparatively, so my energy is a bit low too. I’m a big guy and I’ve got reserves so it’s not a big deal health wise, but for readily available working energy, I’ve noticed a difference. Today’s total calories, with dinner (which I ate after getting home from volunteering) are only 1151, compare that to my basal metabolic rate, given my size, and I’m a tad low. But that’s how it goes. But nothing too exerting the rest of the month for volunteering. When volunteering with SGAD, you usually get a token for a free beer at the participating establishment, but since I’ve not been eating that much, I didn’t feel a beer was the best idea, so I’ve got a nice wooden nickel for a future event.
If you’re curious (I forgot my fitbit at home today, hence no steps, but it has my BMR calculated for the day).
Day 1: $6.45 (I didn’t realize how much my free SweeTango apples were worth)
Day 2: $3.71
Day 3: $2.52
Day 4: $3.80
Day 5: $3.90
Day 6: $3.91
Total: $24.29
Average: $4.05 (I’ll try to get this down under $4 as time goes on)