Making Your Mark by Volunteering



Making Your Mark is a huge topic for us at Shimmer Sparkle Shine. We talk about it in each of our workshops and it’s the focus of our Share Your Sparkle Day. We always ask people to think about their special talents and how they can use those to help others which is a great way to start thinking about this topic, but I think some people get stuck on the talents part.

A lot of our girls and our participants in Share Your Sparkle Day can get caught up in the question “what am I good at?” and worrying too much about needing some spectacular skill. The truth is that when it comes to volunteering, you only need two things: a caring heart and a passion for a cause. The question we need to be asking our girls is “What causes do you care about?” This puts the focus on the people or the things that we care about the most. Does your heart beat for people or animals that need homes? Do you want to be an advocate for the environment and taking care of our planet? It’s important to decide the cause first. Once you’ve identified that, then you can seek out organizations that are already established that need volunteers or start your own organization. If you aren’t looking to start a non-profit, go and join one. Now you can start to think about how you can help. If you have trouble identifying your skills, talk to the organization that you want to be involved with. Ask them what they need or tell them that you want to help but you don’t know how. They can help you identify your strengths and teach you how to use them. Be upfront about your time commitment and availability, but show them that you are excited to help. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people that share a passion with you. It’s an excellent way to get experience and gain skills and knowledge you can use in other areas of your life. Most importantly, it is a way for you to be part of something bigger than yourself. And knowing that you are making a difference in a person’s life and in your community makes you feel awesome because making an impact, no matter how small, is a beautiful and wonderful thing. 


My personal example – I love and miss my doggies back home. Since I don’t have the money or the time to be able to own a dog of my own, I want to help dogs that don’t have homes yet. I emailed the local animal shelter and will be attending a volunteer orientation meeting in a few weeks to find out how I can help. I want to be able to get the pups out of their kennels to get them exercise and human interaction so they will be ready to be good pets for their new families. 

 
Next year (since this requires an application, more training, more time, etc) I will apply to be a volunteer at the hospital on campus. My hope is to work in the Children’s Hospital in some capacity.

These are just examples, but the possibilities are endless. There are always people and animals that would love and appreciate any help you can give.    -Ashley


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