Giving your time when you can't make a long-term commitment

[DarkLight]

I have been wanting to get more involved with the corporal works of mercy and just in general doing more with my time for God and for my fellow human beings. However I have a couple of things going on where I don’t want to make a long-term commitment. There are just too many factors that would be outside of my control that would be likely to make it so I can’t keep up something like that, and I don’t want to make a promise to do something that I couldn’t keep.

So what are some things someone could do that wouldn’t involve a whole lot of advance planning or commitment?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Look for one-day or two-day programs sponsored by your church or other organizations. I know there are some such opportunities out there where they send a group to go help in some way for one day.

 

[midori]

Are you urban, suburban, or rural?

 

[Tolle_Lege]

Maybe put together some snack bags (larger size ziplock bags) with some food, a small bottle of water, tissue, hand sanitizer, some prayer cards, etc. and hand them out to folks along the streets asking for help / money. You can put together a half dozen or so and keep them in your vehicle. Depending on where you live though, you may be more or less likely to run across this situation.

 

[1ke]

So what are some things someone could do that wouldn’t involve a whole lot of advance planning or commitment?

In my experience most organizations that run on volunteer labor are very flexible. Just tell them when you are available.

I volunteered at a food pantry and resale clothing store and I traveled for work, so I would just tell them when I could and couldn’t be there.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Our local soup kitchen has a sign-up website where you can log in, see what their need is, and click on the shifts you want.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Habitat builds are short term commitments, in fact often people only come in for one day (and they need help with things like cleaning the house before people move in).

Volunteering as a sub at the parish, I know people who volinteer to go comfort the shelter dogs on the nights of big fireworks displays!

Our Catholic Cemetery has one big “clean up” day each year, however, they would be thrilled for people who want to volunteer just at random times.

Cooking for the bereavement ministry, cleaning up after VBS.

 

[DarkLight]

In my experience most organizations that run on volunteer labor are very flexible. Just tell them when you are available.

I volunteered at a food pantry and resale clothing store and I traveled for work, so I would just tell them when I could and couldn’t be there.

How much notice do you think they need? One of the biggest issues is that I still have some pretty unstable health issues, so it’s not too uncommon for me to have to cancel something with only 2 or 3 days notice. Especially if it involves any sort of physical activity or (not to be too gross) being too far from a bathroom.

Are you urban, suburban, or rural?

Rural. That probably makes it harder, admittedly.

Cooking for the bereavement ministry.

That’s actually a good idea - most cooking stuff works pretty well with either “my health decided to act up” or “work decided to keep me stuck at home tethered to the internet.” I can manage fairly easily if I’m at home or in an office type setting.

 

[midori]

Rural. That probably makes it harder, admittedly.

Yes. Back when I was living in metropolitan areas, there were dozens of options available. Now that I live in a rural area, it’s far less organized/centralized.

If you have a food pantry within an acceptable distance, you might look at volunteering there on a periodic basis. When I’ve worked at food pantries, our big job was mostly weeding out expired food.

In my rural area, we have Meals on Wheels. When we used to do meal deliveries, it was on a schedule, and during the workday— but you might check with them to see if they have additional options available that don’t involve actual delivering, and can be done irregularly.

If you check whatever your local senior activity center has, there’s often a local place that provides free or low-cost meals for people on a fixed income. You can see what you can contribute there.

Some of the local churches might have a clothes closet where people can bring donations, and it gets sorted and organized and sold at garage-sale prices. So if you don’t have a place nearby under the Goodwill or Salvation Army umbrellas, you might check who’s organizing that kind of thing locally, and if you can help sort or tag things periodically.

There’s also often an informal group of people who watch out for those who are ill or recovering from surgery. They coordinate amongst themselves to make sure that dinner is provided, so that there’s always someone stopping by daily to check on them, visit for a few minutes, and so on. So you need to figure out where that group of people is in your area, or who would know how to find them so you could pitch in when you’re able.

Good luck!

 

[1ke]

How much notice do you think they need?

Depends on the organization. But you could also ask to be scheduled with 1 or 2 other people so that if you have to cancel then they aren’t left empty handed.

Or do something that doesn’t matter if you have to cancel. At St Vincent’s where my mom runs a food pantry, there are people who see clients/do intake, people who go get food from the food bank, people who stock the shelves, and then people who do data entry. You could do data entry and if you weren’t feeling well one day it could wait til another day.

Same with the resale shop. I worked the store/register so it was important I be there for my shift to open up or close, etc. but other people sorted donations, washed and priced the clothes, and those were back of shop duties and could be done or if it had to wait a day or two was no big deal.

Ask the ministry you are interested in what sort of jobs they have that would fit your situation. Not all ministry jobs are client facing.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Yep, heck, my bereavement contribution changed when my SIL’s mom died. People brought all of this food, and the plan was to freeze/store some of it. Somebody had to make a run for supplies. Now, my contribution is a package of paper plates, plastic ware, resealable containers/zip top bags and a package of toilet paper (the house often has many guests in and out). Non perishables will help even if you are not physically up to cooking.

 

[DarkLight]

I could totally see that! I know how much not having to wash the dishes can be worth. I could always keep some stuff in my own freezer or cabinets too that could be brought out on demand. I’ve learned some very very good instant pot shredded beef - add a few canned goods, some tortillas, and a pack or two of shredded cheese and you have tacos. (And of course my randomly sick self adores the instant pot.)