Monty
BY “MONTY” DIMOND
We are in the middle of National Volunteers Week. It’s made me remember how I wanted to do charity work when I was younger because it sounded like a good thing to do. People who are selfless, amazing, caring and just plain awesome do stuff for charity and I wanted to be all of those things. More importantly I wanted others to think of me this way. So I did what I thought was the right thing to do and gave it a pathetic and extremely half assed crack.
When I was 11, I flirted with the 12-hour famine (same thing as the 40-hour famine but a lot shorter). I volunteered my stomach to go without food for 720 excruciating minutes. One hour into the famine and I thought I was going to die. I had downed about 92 barley sugars and skulled 2 litres of apples juice already. I began to convince myself that if I didn’t get something into my tummy with more substance, I would do long lasting damage to my organs. I whinged my way to the four hour mark then dramatically told my mum to say her last goodbyes. The famine had got the better of me and my time had come. Luckily I quickly inhaled a bowl of tortellini that bought me back to full health. It’s fair to say I missed the point of that exercise. I’m pretty sure starving children in Africa don’t have the luxury of whipping up a quick pasta dish whenever they please.
The next time I felt compelled to do a little good was when I was 19. It was around Christmas when I drove past a line of homeless people waiting for their free dinner at the local mission. My heart broke as I looked at the men and woman of varying ages and races unable to afford their basic needs. When I got home I announced to my mum that I would not be attending our Christmas lunch because I was going to volunteer at the Soup Kitchen. My mum was proud and encouraged me to do it, she finished her praise with; “It’s a shame you will miss out on my famous Chrissie pud”. That’s all I needed, my get out of jail free card handed to me in the form of twelve little words. I quickly replied, “Ok, I wont do it, but I will definitely do it next year”. Next Christmas rolled around and ten more after that. I have never been anywhere but at my mum’s dining room table when Saint Nic visits. What a spoilt brat!
I have donated money regularly to various charities, but I now know the reason I couldn’t commit more than my credit card details. It’s because I didn’t really want to. Parting with money was one thing but giving up my time was a whole other scenario. This was until a few months ago when I saw a retweet from Chrissie Swan: “We have 16 babies on our waitlist waiting for cots. Can you help?”
This simple little tweet had a profound impact on me. While I sat on my comfy couch with my healthy five month old baby all-warm in his clean new cot, with every necessity a baby could need. I began to cry. Little babies in my country, in my state, in my own neighbourhood didn’t even have a cot to sleep safely in. This made no sense to me. I jumped on line to see who and how I could help.
‘St Kilda Mums’ was the organisation sending out the request. They are mothers who volunteer their time to collect and sort donations of baby and preschool children’s clothing, toys and nursery equipment. These items are assembled into beautiful packs and distributed to mums, who due to limited income, fleeing domestic violence or drug issues are unable to provide these essentials for their babies.
Jessie Macpherson is one of the amazing women who started the service. She is the type of person who deserves to be called selfless, amazing, caring and awesome. She runs ‘St Kilda Mums’ out of her own home and volunteers over 40 hours a week of her time to keep the wheels turning.
A few Saturdays ago I went over to help her sort through donations. I turned up a little nervous (being a volunteer virgin) but ready to get stuck into it. Over the next few hours I had a truly humbling experience. While Jessie’s kids happily ran around the house we sorted through teeny baby clothes, folded them and neatly popped them into care packs. After the work was done, I jumped in my car and drove home on a high. I felt a sense of connection with the women who would receive the beautiful packs full of baby goodies. They come from a completely different world than I do, but we have one very amazing thing in common; we are all mums.
I wont get on my high horse and say get out there and volunteer, because it was only a couple of weeks ago that I saddled up my own pony. However after feeling I should really do some charity work, I have finally found one that I actually want to be a part of. Best thing about this is my organs won’t shut down and I won’t miss out on Mum’s world famous pud in my quest to be officially “awesome”.
* St Kilda mums began in 2009, a service to help the needs of families suffering hardship. Cots, prams and car seats are much needed at the moment. http://www.stkildamums.org (Melbourne) http://dandelionsupport.org (Sydney)
Katie “Monty” Dimond is a broadcaster and media personality. She has appeared on Channel Ten, Channel Nine, and Nova FM. She is currently busy being a full time Mum and loving it! You can (and should) follow her on Twitter here. You should also like her Facebook page which you can find here.
Have you ever volunteered somewhere that has completely changed the way that you think?
Comments
40 Comments so far
I volunteer in Melbourne for an animal shelter (no-kill and not a big name shelter) and since moving to Budapest, I have registered as a dog walking volunteer at a dog shelter!! An awesome way of getting my dose of “animal love” from grateful pooches, learning about my new city, meeting others and practicing my awful Hungarian.
Sometimes volunteering allows you to pursue a passion that is not your career – for me it’s animals. Makes me wish I’d studied vet science or zoology, not teaching!!
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My family have always volunteered. At the moment my husband and I are both instructors in tae kwon do at our local pcyc, i help out at my girl’s school and i do hospital and home visits through my church. When I have a little more time (and know where we’re going to live in 2013) we’re going to get involved with the big brother big sister program. I would love to foster can’t, so this seems like the next best thing!
I love volunteering, it feels good to know i can give something back.
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Great post Monty – the St Kilda Mums do a wonderful job. And as all research shows, volunteering is one of the ways an individual can increase their own personal happiness so everyone is a winner xx
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Anyone have ideas for Adelaide dwellers?
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HiJennie,
I am in Adelaide too. Last year I collected donations of “gently worn”shoes (ie shoes that kids grow out of every two months!) for children in Africa who have never owned any shoes, and are therefore at risk of all sorts of diseases.
You can get more involved than this, help to sort the shoes, and there is even a trip to Tanzania planned for later this year to help distribute the shoes.
If this sounds like something that interests you, check out “the butterfly movement” on facebook, or the butterflymovement.com.au
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I’m a lifelong volunteer and it’s amazing. You meet amazing people, get skills and give back to the community. It’s especially useful for young people in varsity- it gives you a serious career edge.
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A great article Monty!
I volunteer for http://www.givit.org.au and we know both St Kilda Mums and Dandelion Support group. Both are terrific groups helping their communities.
GIVIT is an online donations portal where charities tell us what they need, and we ask our donors if they can donate these items. We are like a dating agency for donors & charities! We work with charities in every sector (domestic violence, mental health, homelessness, aged care, physical disabilities etc) and are always on the lookout for more people to subscribe to our weekly newsletter which outlines what is needed in the community. Some items that are requested make me bawl my eyes out, but when they get donated, it feels great just knowing that we have helped someone.
I volunteer about 40 hours per week, and have truly found something I love. It’s also great that we are all mums who want flexibility, but to be able to help people who need a leg up in life. It feels awesome & I would highly recommend anyone here on MM to spend some time volunteering. It really does nourish your soul.
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We at Dandelion Support Network love GIVIT. We can ask for items that we don’t have in our inventory, that have been requested by case workers for their clients.
Kyznet you are so right… volunteering warms the heart and nourishes the soul. I sleep better at night knowing a families burden has been eased by the work I do.
My Grandkids are also involved in the work, you can never start them volunteering too early! My 3 year old Granddaughter is teaching her preschool class mates about helping ‘little babies that don’t have anything’, bless her heart.
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Got to love a ‘dating’ charity.. Ha.. Great job!! Excatly what mums need, something flexible and something they love.. Sounds like you are doing an AMAZING job.. xx
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Good on you Monty for donating your time to such a worthwhile charity, it’s great to know there’s people like you and Jessie who help out in areas where the baby bonus may not be adequate for a new bub or mum’s needs.
If anyone’s wanting an easy way to help out people I cannot recommend donating blood at a Red Cross Centre highly enough! A little needle and an hour of your time goes a long way to helping people who need blood transfusions. AND they feed you at the end!
http://www.donateblood.com.au/
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I hear you get Mars bars after you donate?? That TOTALLY entices me!! . xxx
Monty
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mars bars, cherry ripes, biscuits, chips, AND a little cup of cordial of a cup of tea! Definitely worth it!
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Thanks Monty for giving the details of dandelionsupport.org – I looked into St Kilda Mums a while back and couldn’t find a NSW equivalent at the time. It’s not close enough to donate easily but still helpful to know. I do donate to the Salvos often but I love being able to target my donation to a specific identified need.
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Nak, Dandelion Support Network is going on the road. We are starting a program where we partner with groups in other areas and have a Dandelion Day where we accept donations of pre loved baby items.
We have one coming up in Woollahra on 25 May at the Holdsworth Centre. https://www.facebook.com/events/309982489073334/
We are always looking for volunteers to help process the donations before they are rehomed with families in crisis.
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Over the past 10 years I have been a public library storytime leader, visited aged care ward at hospital, taught english to immigrants, made breakfast for hungry teenagers and more.
While I enjoy volunteering I find I get bored quickly. I only lasted 3 months at each spot before I would ‘find’ a reason I couldn’t continue.
Is the key to longevity just finding something you are passionate about?
Do I just have to keep on trying until something fits?
Any suggestions or strategies for keeping up enthusiasm?
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Don’t have any suggestions but good on you for keeping on trying.
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Good on your for keeping going. I think you have hit the nail on the head when you said “is the key to longevity finding something you are passionate about” – it might take awhile but if you find it, I think you’ll stick around.
I was a bit like this too and thought maybe volunteering wasn’t for me until I was asked to coach a junior netball team. I had a big passion for netball but had to give up due to injury years ago and now it seems like I have found what seemed missing
I love it and can’t see myself giving up anytime soon.
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Over the years most of my volunteer work has been through my kids (school, nippers canteen, kinder treasurer).
In my role as a HR Manager in Geelong, I have recentlty become aware of an organisation called BACLinks who exist to bring business and community groups together to find mutally agreeable and sustainable solutions. It is a great starting point for business or individuals that want to volunteer but are not sure where their skills could be best utlised. It is not about providing money. Instead they match a community organisation with a need to a business that can assist with the right skills or time.
On the 31st of this month they are holding a Workplace Big Day out. Businesses send volunteers to spend the day paricipating in activites with people with disabilities from the Geelong area. It is a a great way to get your feet wet with volunteering. I am going along and we have a total of 8 volunteers out of 40 employees who are now attending.
Organisations like this are a fantactic way to get involved as they can match you with a charity or community group that has a need that would suit you. I highly recomend that anyone looking to get involved but not sure where to start look for an organisation like this one in theri local area.
http://www.baclinks.org.au/
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Great piece Monty, and thanks for promoting the importance of volunteering! I have volunteered on and off for the last decade because I usually don’t have the money to donate, but I do have my time and skills.
I have been a blood donor since i was 16, I am an organ and bone marrow donor, I provide my skills in copywriting and marketing to small charities run by friends and acquaintances, I spend a couple of hours a week helping out in my daughter’s classroom and I volunteer for an organisation writing their newsletter once a month.
Having worked in the nonprofit sector for some time, I can also provide a perspective on volunteers from the other side. For charities, especially small ones, taking on volunteers is a massive, and often time-consuming task. You might receive a phone call from some kids wanting to do work experience, or someone who wants to help in the week leading up to Christmas, or for Lent.
Generally a staff member is required to create a program for them, and allocate appropriate tasks, train them in the job that needs to be done (even data entry or filing requires some direction and supervision) they usually need a desk or a computer, and they naturally have queries that need to be addressed. For a charity with only 5 or 6 staff members, having one employee allocated to volunteer management can be a huge drain on already limited resources.
Then after a week, many volunteers feel they have “done their bit” and leave, or feel that because they aren’t being paid, they aren’t really obliged to come in at the time they say they will, or don’t show up on their allocated day.
THere is also a real feeling among many volunteers that they want to be doing the fun stuff – if you are a medical research charity, they want to be helping the sick kids in a hands-on manner, or they want to be playing with the cute puppies in an animal shelter. It can be hard to explain that 99% of the work that goes on in a charity is administrative, and when a volunteer is asked to file, or stuff envelopes week after week, they often quickly lose interest.
That said, charities can’t get by without dedicated, committed, reliable volunteers, they are the backbone of the nonprofit sector, and anyone who works in the sector is incredibly grateful for the work that these amazing people do.
But if you are going to volunteer, please remember that you need to be doing it for the right reasons – ie to help the charity and its recipients, not to make yourself feel good.
Please be reliable, please show up when you say you will, please don’t complain or lose interest when you have to do administrative work, please be in it for the long haul, please understand that this organisation is probably running on a shoestring budget and the staff have a million other things to do, and may not always be able to answer your questions immediately. And most importantly, keep in mind the good that you are doing for the organisation as a whole, because it *is* appreciated.
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I agree wholeheartedly with everything you have written (especially the turning up on time and making a committment part). But I disagree with the not doing it to make yourself feel good bit.
Many people benefit from helping others in that it does make them feel good. I personally feel that whether you are there to help others and the bonus is to feel good, or you’re there to feel good, and the bonus is to help others…. it doesn’t matter! As long they are both present, the outcomes are the same.
Having said that though, I volunteer at Lifeline as a telephone counsellor, and sometimes that does NOT feel good. So on those days, the helping others perspective needs to be front of mind to keep me going…
Philosophically though, many people believe that true altruism is very rare (if not absent). If that’s the case and we followed the “only do it for others” mantra, we’d have no volunteers!
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Fair call, bedizz, perhaps I should have said “don’t put making yourself feel good *ahead* of the needs of the charity”. Re. your comment about “true altruists” – have you read about the Seven Faces of Philanthropy? Interesting stuff: http://www.xponential.com.au/uploads/Seven_Faces_of_Philanthropy.pdf
Don’t know how you do it volunteering for Lifeline, I think it would infringe too much on my own mental wellbeing for me to cope. Well done.
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I used to do a few charity events as a teen but have only just got back into it now I’m a ‘responsible adult’.
This year I started spending a few hours a week at a local dog refuge giving cuddles, walks and basic training to abandoned dogs who are waiting to find a new home. Best thing I’ve done in a long time.
http://www.dogshome.org.au/ (WA)
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I REALLY want to do this. Does anyone know of any animal shelters in Melbourne that needs volunteers? I’m very keen to help out! I’m in East Brunswick, so somewhere on the North side of Melbourne is better… but i’m happy to travel a bit further out.
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Try the Lort Smith Animal Hospital in North Melbourne – it’s a charity run specifically to further the welfare of animals and they do an awesome job
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Thanks. I regularly donate to them, but haven’t ever volunteered there. I’ll give them a call.
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Oh wow, if there is something similar for cats, I’d *pay* to volunteer.
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Since you mentioned it… there does happen to be a cat shelter across the road from the dog shelter
http://www.cathaven.com.au/how-you-can-help/volunteering/ (WA)
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Ingrid’s Haven Cat Shelter (ingridshaven.net.au) is the one I help out with, though it’s an hour out of Melbourne. Say hi on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Ingrids.Haven and see if it’s for you.
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I volunteer my time for Dandelion Support Network in Sydney. We sort and pack babies clothes, toys, etc at our working bees (where kids are welcome) and we can also take work home and do it in our own time, which is awesome.
I have 8 prams in my lounge room at the moment that are just waiting for me to log off here and start stripping them down for cleaning, repairing & safety checking. Hahaha Volunteer and learn new skills. Seriously though, I take the prams because I am the one that LOVES to make them look like new again. Our donors are so generous and nothing makes me happier than giving a family suffering hardship, donated items that I have restored/repaired with my own hands.
And the feedback we receive from social workers & their clients is so positive and so heartwarming… I plan on doing this work until they plant me in the ground.
Look Dandelion Support Network up on facebook and check out their work…
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I too volunteer for Dandelion. Nicole loves the prams and I have found my niche in making up the clothes packs. Just made up 7 packs last night with approx 2 weeks worth of winter clothes. There are clothes all over my lounge at the moment (in neat piles – I am a virgo) but it’s all good. My son has come to working bees and we have both made new friends too.
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Way to go girl! I got 3 prams stripped, cleaned and detailed today. See you at the next working bee.
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I think the key to volunteering is to find something you are passionate about. You don’t get monetary rewards but the reward of contributing to something you feel strongly about is just amazing.
As a teenager I walked countless miles doorknocking for the Red Cross. I sold hundreds of badges and wrote who knows how many letters for Amnesty International.
At uni, I volunteered for the society associated with my degree. It gave me brilliant work experience to pad out my resume as well as helped provide a range of learning services for the other students (and me!).
In the workforce I volunteered for years on a board to help get more women into the IT industry and support them when they were in it. I’m so proud of the work I did on that board to create a really thriving community that supports women in what can be a very male dominated industry.
I’ve also given a heap of time to help create and run a dance event that raises money for local charities.
Each of these different activities has represented different interests at times in my life. Right now I’m taking a bit of a break from volunteering, work is hectic and I need some me time, but I’m pretty sure by the end of the year I will be looking around again!
One final thing I would say is that my Mum in particular has always been a volunteer and I think it is the example that she set that led to my passion for volunteering.
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I volunteer my time with an organisation called Backpacks 4 Aussie Kids. It is a fantastic organisation that provides backpacks filled with essentials and some special treats for children being placed into emergency foster care. The aim of backpacks is to reduce the stress of not knowing where the child is going to get a tooth brush, soap, clothes from when they have had to leave all or most of their belongings behind.
The feedback from both carers and the foster children via the case workers has been extremely positive and I know that all our hard work is making a difference to children. The SA Branch received a letter from a 7 year old child via their case worker and the thing she was most excited about wasnt the new DVD, toys or books it was the fact she had received new underwear with pictures on it she had never received new underwear before and this was something she was going to treasure. Something so simple and happens on regular occasions in our family was enough to make another child scream with delight.
If your interested in the charity check out their facebook page they have branches in lots of areas around the country and are always looking for new or used childrens clothing, activity packs and the essential toiletry packs. My children are even involved now and realise how lucky they are with everything they have. Not only am I proud to have made a difference, but to also know I have taught my children how to help in the future.
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In the last eight months I have become a volunteer Ambulance driver. Its an amazing thing, and the best part? My children are so very proud of me! I have been bought in to show and tell in my uniform and in the next couple of weeks will be bringing an ambulance to school for the children to get in and have a look! Its wonderful!
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I didn’t even know you could do this! THanks for sharing.
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What a great example to set for your children (and their school friends), they are lucky to have a mother like you
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That sounds so great Karen!! how could your kids not be proud of you.. Monty xxx
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I once did work experience with Wesley Mission & was totally disgusted by their staff receiving free gourmet food from a restaurant run by the organisation within their head office, which also provided food for their functions & the general public. Why give their corporate staff free meals? Judging from their wardrobes they weren’t on minimum wages…. also, the amount off food wastage in the kitchen was appalling, if a charity can’t donate unwanted food to the needy who can?
I have been meaning to donate my time to this organisation, thanks for the kick up the bum! http://www.birthingkitfoundation.org.au/
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Anon – would you be disgusted that employees at a corporate office received staff meals from the company’s kitchens? Loads of businesses have a staff canteen or offer staff meals. Why do you have a problem with this, but not with people in the corporate world receiving the same treatment?
This is one thing that drives me mad about attitudes to charities and their employees. There is an assumption that we should be donating our time and skills for nothing! Employees in the nonprofit sector could be earning roughly 20% more if they worked in the corporate sector, but have instead decided to dedicate their skills to working for a charity – usually because social justice is something they feel strongly about.
I have a bachelor degree and am studying for my Masters in nonprofit management, with all the associated HECS debt. I have a family to support and bills to pay. If I didn’t receive a reasonable salary to work in the sector, then I would be working in the corporate world, probably doing more hours and have less time to do the volunteer work I also do.
Charities have limited budgets, and in order to attract the best, most qualified staff (yes, people who work in the NFP sector DO have to be just as qualified as those in the corporate world – we aren’t just do-gooders with nice intentions, we are accountants, marketing managers, IT professionals and CEOs, sometimes all these jobs rolled into one because of tight budgets!) they may provide non-monetary benefits to their staff, such as extra leave, or family days, extra paid days to volunteer with other charities, or indeed, provision of staff meals, which probably costs next to nothing for the organisation to provide, but acts as an incentive for their paid and volunteer staff to enjoy in lieu of the high salaries and other perks of the corporate world.
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Fair enough if they were subsidised meals but I don’t know anyone who gets a free feed at work so why should these people? I’m talking gourmet ingredients too – prawns, smoked salmon, semi dried tomatoes, top brand condiments, which in no way would cost next to nothing.
From what I have seen of subsidised meals in staff canteens they have been no where near the 5 star quality of these meals. So no, I wouldn’t have had a problem with it if they provided more basic meals which resulted in far less wastage.
I don’t expect the staff to be giving their time for free or work at half wage but certainly don’t feel they should be fed free gourmet food day in day out, particularly when copious amounts of food ended up in the bin each day – I would find this disgusting in any corporation. There were so many ways they could have cut costs with better management of the quality & quantity of meals prepared, which could either benefit the needy more or provide better salaries to the staff – but how are we to know what their salaries were if they’re being fed smoked salmon every day?
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