You’re tired, and jaded. You’ve been doing more and more work, but you just feel like it’s really, really hard to see what the point of all this pushing is for.
Sure, earning more money is good, but if there’s no better usage of that money beyond our own self-gratification, it may be hard to see why you’re fighting so hard for.
Your company may start sending you on some organizational CSR programmes to help you feel more engaged. But they may seem similar to those you did as a student, from the visits to elderly centres, to taking children out on an outing. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, but you might be looking for more.
In 2020, during the height of COVID, I started earning money. As a fresh graduate, it was more money than I’d ever seen. But yet none of that assuaged the sense of loneliness in my life, from staring at the four walls around me, and listening to people’s problems all day as a social worker.
I volunteered with another ground-up, and started introducing online Zoom sessions where we spoke about things no one dared to speak about. Like loneliness, self-harm and suicide. It played to my natural strengths facilitating and more importantly, what I really cared for in mental health.
So here today, perhaps one of the most important questions to ask yourself are:
- What do you care about?
- Where are your natural strengths?
Only then would you be able to find better places to volunteer and help.
You love animals
If you love animals, then you might want to spend some time volunteering with EQUAL-ARK. They use animals for therapy.
Having interviewed with them, I can tell you that this can be life-changing. The first time they brought me up close with a horse, I was stunned by the level of care shown by the groom towards the horse. The groom would call the horses by name, rub them gently on their snout, before proceeding to lead them out.
We can also see the power of these animals on those who might be difficult to work with. Interacting with horses can be healing for these clients, who have suffered greatly over the years.
You love helping those who are marginalized
But another group who suffers, but is often marginalized, are the residents of halfway houses like The Helping Hand and Turning Point.
You might be thinking,
huh? How can they be suffering? Don’t they enjoy themselves with substances?
No, substances can often be a way to cover up the pain they feel. One resident once shared about how he’d started using substances after the passing of both his father, and mother. He’d been very close to them, and after their passing, there was a gaping hole in his life. He didn’t know what to do, and turned to substances to assuage the pain inside.
With The Helping Hand, you can volunteer in a different way. Most might think the volunteering is just interacting with residents. But it can also involve befriending - where you bring the clients out for a walk, a game, or even cycling. This has been a cause I’ve unfortunately fallen in love with because of how genuine the residents are. You learn from them the darker underbelly of Singapore, such as where they used to deal drugs, how they evaded the police, and it can sound like a live act out of Oceans’ Eleven.
Some ways you can help:
- Play music during their quarterly events or for their worship sessions
- Befriending residents and taking them out for meals and chats
Bake for The Helping Hand?
One of the by-the-way things you can do at The Helping Hand too is to help them during their seasonal peaks, such as Chinese New Year and Christmas. You have the chance to raise money for their programmes through the baking too.
If you do have a knack for baking, why not join them?
You love your community around you
If you really want to contribute to the community around you, then why not take the time to help those closest to you?
Queenstown Kakis is one such adventure. They start every first Saturday of the month, with the same drill. Open a table on the lawns, put some food on top, and invite the community around for breakfast.
It’s a lovely way to start blessing the community around you. Melissa Kwee started with a simple question,
What would it look like if neighbors, knew their neighbors?
That began a deeper idea of how to grow the neighbourhood around them with some tangible things - like bringing neighbors together for a day of fun, getting people to perform, and share their gifts with each other (like hairdressing, manicures, jewelry repair).
This is a beautiful thing not to be missed.
You have a special soft spot for those with special needs
Some of my most memorable volunteering experiences came with MINDS, as a young 17 year old. At that time, I was wondering if there was more to life than this mad chase for grades. I recalled the time I was issued a Corrective Work Order for misbehaving in school.
I approached them again, and strangely, they accepted me. It initially started with accompanying the clients for outings every Sunday. During one Sunday’s art and craft session, we were making Mothers’ Day cards. This boy, who could speak both Chinese and English, and looked completely just like you and me, said,
I don’t know how to write this!
As I saw him tracing the ‘A’ on the card, I felt a deep pang. I had always chased the A-s, without realizing what a privilege it was to chase these A-s.
That pushed me to do more for them. One of the loveliest things of MINDS Youth Group, is their ability to form deep friendships. Spending time together overnight during the camps, laughing with clients and fellow volunteers, can form a strangely deep bond that I’ve never experienced elsewhere.
Love books?
Help The Saturday Book Club! They are another ground up initiative that centres around their love for books. And there’s something for everyone. From marketing, to logistical support, to befriending during the monthly events, there’s so much you can do to get involved.
Since joining their book clubs on the weekends, I’ve enjoyed the deep connections formed from this mutual love for reading, and learning. It’s something you could get too.
Why not try joining them?
Teach at your local Toastmasters
Just as some people love learning at book clubs, others just love teaching. One of the best ways I’ve found is from your local Toastmasters. You can speak about a topic you love through Toastmasters, and slowly find yourself impressing the community with a deep love for the subject.
Why not?
Volunteering is about loving the communities you’re a part of
In a time such as now, keeping to ourselves, can seem wise. But it will only lead to a vicious cycle where we end up further isolated from our communities, and where we see our communities hollowing out. Making them more resilient, so that they pull each other up during those difficult times, will eventually make the neighbourhood you stay a far better place.
So don’t just consume.
Contribute something to what’s around you.