Volunteer

    In my life I think one of the things that has helped me build character over the years, is volunteering. Volunteering can stretch you out of your comfort zone. Volunteering can be fun and in my experiences it often is! I have always enjoyed volunteering; it's a fun way to give back to your community. Sometimes, you can do it to help people, other times you can volunteer just for fun! I have volunteered at least 14 days this year. There are 2 volunteer experiences of 2016 I want to focus on! The first is organizing books and supplies for schools across the state. The second is being security at a concert! 

       This summer I volunteered 12 days. Did I want to give up 12 whole days of my summer when I could've been sleeping? No! Am I glad I did? Yes! I volunteered 9 days at summer camps. Which was cool I got to meet new people and see some of my students and old friends again. I volunteered 2 days at Energy Express. This is a summer reading program that I worked 4 summers. It was interesting in seeing it from a different aspect. The one I want to talk about is organizing books in Logan County. 

       WV recently went through a flood in June and the support has been astonishing. People from all over that nation donated stuff for kids to go back to school. Pencils, packs of paper, erasers and more were stacked to almost the ceiling in an abandoned 84 Lumber warehouse. I went with two teachers and we sorted books for hours. It was amazing to see the support we got from everyone in the nation. It gave me some hope in humanity. Our country is hurting; but, people rallied together and donated what they could and the result was amazing. I woke up thinking "What am I doing? I could lay in bed and watch tv all day long!" When I got there I realized how selfish and ungrateful I was being. The love poured into WV through school supplies was enough to give you chills. There were people working so hard to get all this organized and out to the schools for children and teachers. 

       The next thing I want to talk about, is being security for a recent Colton Dixon/ Building 429 concert! I signed up to volunteer for this concert back in July and was supposed to be contacted to volunteer. I'm not sure I ever was contacted; but, I only live like 20 mins away so I decided to go pretty early. The stage was already set and even though I had been there almost every summer of my life for camp meeting, it was really unrecognizable because of all the instruments and equipment on the stage! 

      I had to wait around about 90 minutes to even do anything; however, in that time I got to see light show prep, which was insane! I know what you've been thinking, how does volunteering for a concert build character? It stretched my comfort zone. I was put on security. I thought "me? Security? Bahahaha!" Anyone that knows me well knows, I'm not a bit intimidating. But, I am an agreeable person and just answered "okay!" I was placed by the stage beside this huge amp that was probably 5 feet tall, 6 feet wide and 4 feet deep. The bass was so heavy that it moved my shirt. It felt like I was standing by a fan. Don't worry, I had ear plugs! It was a neat experience I got to meet people from all over the state. I got to see lots of people that I knew. 

      (So the concert started and Finding Favour opened the show, they were good, but short. They were only on the stage about 15-20 minutes. Next up was Colton Dixon, a guy from top 10 of Idol! I am a huge fan of Idol. This was what was so exciting and why I signed up to volunteer! He was great! While I didn't get to meet him I was only like 5 feet away and we did make eye contact! So that was cool! His legs are twigs! His wife sang a song with him. Then last but not least, Building 429 took the stage. They were very great performers. I had not seen any of these people in concert before!)

      After the concert was over, I got to wheel some of the equipment off the stage and watch them take this stage and tear it down. In the back of your mind you think people set all this up just for 3 hours and then they take it off and do it again. But I never gave it a whole lot of thought until I saw it in person. I have a much new respect for the road crew on tours. It was an experience I hope I won't soon forget! 

       My goal for you is to find something to volunteer for and build some character! You'll have fun! (Like, share and comment below your favorite memory volunteering.)