Volunteering & Volunteer Students

I enjoy dreaming — dreaming about new ideas, inventions, goals, possibilities.  Not any possibility but endless possibilities.  After all, that is what keeps us young and vibrant, right?  I also enjoy creativity.  I love associating myself with creative peole. 

So I had a thought yesterday, while listening to a talk radio program.  I mean, I was really listening.  I got the message.  What was the message?  People – many people calling in who are out of a job.  I was really listening.  When we really listen we can learn so much and people enjoy being listened to.  One gentleman that called in had five children and has been unemployed for a year.  Think about that and the many ramifications that unemployment has on his family.  Empathy is a wonderful gift but, respectfully, we are not walking in his shoes; but we can imagine that for a moment.

I think I am one of many out there who enjoys going out to eat once in a while.  The great times, yummy food, great company, great atmosphere, new surroundings and experiences make dining out fun and adventurous.  Fun is trying something new!  So…what about starting a nonprofit for the millions who cannot afford to go out to dinner and catch a break?  What about assisting the less fortunate, the millions who cannot buy that something extra at the grocery store or nothing more than a loaf of bread because they have to choose between paying their utility bill and keeping their lights on or eating properly?  What a difficult choice to make.  My thought is if people contributed to those less fortunate and pay it forward what will come back to them will be threefold.  I was thinking of somehow providing restaurant gift certificates or gift cards to those who are less fortunate than me.  Think of what you could get back — way more than any incredible dining experience!  I enjoy volunteering and I think this may be something to munch on!  Food for thought.

That’s how many little plastic eggs will be hidden around church the evening of our Kids Hope USA Easter event.  This is the 6^th or 7^th year we have had an Easter egg hunt for families and each year it gets better and better, or maybe I should say bigger and bigger.  This is where I could use your help.  In order to fill all those plastic eggs, a lot of candy is needed.  If you could help by bringing just one bag of small, individually wrapped candies to church either of the next two Sundays we would have enough.  There will be a basket in the lobby both Sundays to collect your donations.

Another way you could help is to volunteer to serve at the event the night of March 30.  The event goes from 6- 7:30pm at SLWC.  There are many volunteer slots to be filled from helping serve in the kitchen to assisting the kids do a simple craft and of course many people will be needed to help with the egg hunt.  I especially need helpers to hide eggs, remember there are 1500 of them.  The eggs will need to be hidden during the 6-7pm time slot.  If you have questions or want to help email me at mbradford@slwc.org.

It is going to be a great night! This is an easy way to be involved in local outreach, and a great way to show KHUSA families that children are important to us!

Mary Beth

For the past two days I have been working with Claudia M the newest team leader to tweak or improve my job so that when I am out someone can do it with out having a major meltdown.  As a result I have had to frequently wait on Claudia to go over the procedures.  Some times I would have to wait for her other times I would just continue.  Well I still have a lot to do from today and now have to work the rest of todays for tomorrow.  We still have to go over the bad addresses procedure.  We have already discussed the procedure for ordering charts. 

She thought I may have had extra steps in doing the medical records and I was slightly annoyed by that assumption.  I just hope I explained it to her so that she understands.

She wants to tweak the spreadsheet I have for the daily mail counts and everything.  As of today I will be counting every single thing that comes in and where it is going (every piece of campus/interoffice included).  She also wants to organize where I put stuff or where it comes in.  At one point she asked if I use the letter opening machine every day.  Yes.  That’s how the mail gets opened.

Anyway all this plus agonizing about how long its taken me to get the mail done is not making my stomach well.  I have been feeling as though I get indigestion a lot lately.  Of course it doesn’t help to eat food fast. 

The woman’s Club Meeting was tonight.  Roberta picked me up around 6:15 and we were late of course.  Not a huge problem because they were all doing things.  We had a woman’s History Month game in which we had to guess the person we had attached to our back with yes and no questions.  I was Nancy Pilosi.  I also won the 50-50 raffle and it was green hat.

When I got home Mom wasn’t home long.  I could see her at the computer from Roberta’s car.  When I got in she was getting changed into pajamas.  While she did that I put the garbage out. 

Now I am going to bed.

Today, we’re live in Acomb hosting an intimate workshop with another York voluntary organisations, Oral History Society at the Acomb Explore Centre.

We’re doing a tutorial on how to use the Zoom H2 – the group do lots of exciting interviews concerning the city’s history in and around the area on audio and in text, so we’re trying to offer them an accessible way of recording and editing their interviews.

The great thing about this group is that they are an accessible and friendly access-point for the community with research a documents archived in the York Central Library (to open again to the public in two months). The society (which formed in 1982) is a registered charity and community group dedicated to York’s vibrant background. They have collected over 500 recordings, transcripts and around 4,000 photographs. The organisation deals with essential subjects like entertainment, work, domestic life and of course, York’s vibrant pub scene and the buzz that has always surrounded areas like Walmgate, The Shambles and Fishergate. These topics are translated back in to the community in the form of books (for example ‘York Memoirs At Home‘), workshops and talks.

The group are currently going through the process of getting all of their work digitised – you can see examples on the official website here.

Colm (our resident broadcaster) is hosting the workshop with two other volunteers for support.

If anyone else is interested in using the H2 for recording professional interviews get in touch or check out our worksheet at this link.

Thanks to Acomb Explore and York’s Oral History Society for chatting to us.

Dom and all at Explore Media

The one ride I have always wanted to nail was the Tour de Hills and this year I finally got the 100 Km done. I went to Ruth’s place for the weekend and picked up Black Magic the new CRX4 I bought with the Rudd money. I got myself to Dural Country Club at 7:00 am on Sunday having done a ride out to Gundaroo which I estimate took 90 Km.

I preregistered for this ride to avoid the situation I copped last year where I was kept waiting at the registration with the $50 and the registration form as the 100Km ride took off. I got my number pinned to the back of my jersey and was on my way to the Country Club to visit the gents, when I met a couple of guys I knew from Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club.  I caught up with them before continuing to get myself ready.

When the ride did get under way we had the usual safety briefing at the start. It was pretty much the same as always. The mass start would have caused some to wonder about the issue of the RTA guidelines suggesting a limit of groups of cyclists to 20. We got underway and the ride began to sort itself out. Riders who were faster got their way to the front of the group while other riders dropped back.  As usual the Century consisted of 2 laps of a 50Km loop.  The first loop had to be done by 10:00.

Given that it is the Tour de Hills it would not be complete without some really steep ascents. In this case there is a climb of a hill at a 15 % Gradient. This is what I was told by one of the  DHBC riders who happened to rate this ride as tougher than the weekly training ride to Waterfall. I managed to overtake some of the early riders and dropped both my DHBC friends before the 20km to go mark on the first loop. I did have my doubts about doing the 50 km in time to avoid the cut off.

Much to my relief and surprise (pleasant) I did. I got to the water point outside Dural Country Club at 09:50. I got some water and went on my way. I then stopped at the next water point where I got some sunscreen and some water. While at this water point I met one of the international contingent. This ride is generally a local ride with plenty of recreational and sporting cyclists but on this occasion there was a group from the Pinoy Roadies. These guys were from the Philipines and were riding this as a training ride. I got talking to one at the water point and was surprised at his outlook on the ride. He was quite happy with what would have to be one of the toughest rides in Sydney. 

I got myself going and aimed to make sure that I beat the rides curfew of 12:30. I also had a strong desire to get to the club for what would have to be a really good celebratory meal. As I rode on the second lap I began to enjoy the scenery. The ride takes in Dural, Box Hill and the country areas near by as well as the suburban Glenhaven which is heavily built up. On this lap the 15% gradient was a bit more tolerable and the determination really paid off. What also paid off was the preparation, particularly the ride to Gundaroo and the inclusion of 2 energy bars in the back jersey pockets.

These energy bars – Cadel’s Mountain Blend provided me with the energy to take on the second half of the course. Fortunately for me they worked quite well. I also used the Staminade provided at the water points as well as the water. This provided some glucose for the ride, which took place on a really hot day in Sydney. The preparation of the bike was also vital to success. I made sure that the tyres were pumped up to the max and I lubed the chain before the ride.

I was relieved to go from the fire station at Glenhaven and onto the Old Northern Road. On the second run the motorists were well behaved. So much so that I was content to give them opportunities to pass. Some of the opportunities I would not have given previously.  No matter how much I enjoyed the ride the sight of the country club at the end was a welcoming one. I calmly road in to the driveway and found a place to park the bike. I then got the number taken off my back and I was given the traditional lunch voucher and a voucher for an extra cheese burger should I visit McDonalds (I rarely do). I got to keep the number and found another patch for the collection. In previous years the rotary club of Castle Hill (who run the ride) provided a patch. Last year was an exception, so this year it was good to get 2 patches.

When I got to the dining room of the country club I got a serving of the lasagna  and some salad with a bread roll for lunch. They had run out of bananas so I missed out on the fruit – not to worry. I caught up with the other riders from DHBC. They had bailed out after 75 Km. I told them that it was my first century for the year and that I would put a report t on the ride on the DHBC forum. Today I did just that.  The good thing about this ride is that I have been able to do the 100 Km ride. This will be useful training for the Amy Gillett Ride which is coming up on Sunday. I hope I will  see some of my mates from DHBC at that ride. I have already spoken to 2 guys at work  and I know 1 is definitely doing it.

In short this ride was the achievement of somthing I have always wanted to do since I started doing serious charity rides. I am happy to have taken the time out to go to Sydney for this ride. Many thanks to the Rotary Club of Castle Hill, The RFS and the Dural Country Club for a good ride and their excellent efforts for the day.

A short introduction…

I am a thirty-something woman, married to my soul mate for almost 14 years and mother of two wonderful boys (ages 10 and 11). I live in London, a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.

I currently work at The London Free Press and have so for more than 12 years, in various departments including sports, business, and currently, online.

I am active in my community as president of my children’s school’s Home and School Association, as well as being an executive board member for Nelson Park Softball Association, a league my boys are involved in.

My hobbies include scrapbooking, watching movies and playing with our six cats.

starts tomorrow.. 12th to 23rd March, check out the website There’s heaps of things to do/see, eat and drink!! Applied a couple week’s back and only just heard back from them today. Will be volunteering there on Saturday 2oth and Sunday 21st from 11am-4pm at the Cellar Door (Southgate). Make sure you come visit me if you’re free… yahooo!!

I was blessed on my heart transplant journey by not having LVAD, BiVAD, or CardioWest surgery before my transplant. At one point, when I was at my worst, the doctors had told my wife that I needed to go on “Big Blue” (CardioWest, full artificial heart) immediately. She had signed the surgery consent forms and while they were waiting on an OR to open up, I was truly blessed as a heart became available.

Since I started volunteering, I’m seeing an increasing stream of people who are having to have these very difficult surgeries first. From my vantage point, these surgeries really kick the patient’s a$$. But, I also have noted that these patients seem to rebound faster after being transplanted.  Faster than those of us that “only” go the transplant route. (Edit- LVAD patients that have had time to recover and regain their strength seem to rebound faster in the opinion of the writer) 

The LVAD (Left Ventricle Assist Device) seems to be the most common of the pumps that are being used. The wife of a transplant friend of mine, that had LVAD surgery, made him a nice denim vest to carry the battery packs and all of the other things required to keep the pump running.  The vest was a huge hit and many other patients started to request them, so she started a small company making custom fitted LVAD vests.

If you are interested, see the brochure below and/or visit her web site at www.BoscoLVADvest.com