Everyone Helps, Everyone Wins by David T. Levinson

Author:David T. Levinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-09-07T00:00:00+00:00

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED . . .

Still, I just can’t decide where to volunteer.

So I call a third shelter, Triangle House. I call the volunteer coordinator. She’s out, so I leave a message. A week goes by. She doesn’t call back, so I e-mail her. But she doesn’t reply to that, either. I’m surprised because here I am, helping out, giving back, offering my services, and in return getting . . . nada. It’s annoying.

I call Natalie again. She reminds me that many volunteer coordinators are actually volunteers themselves. As such, they are not necessarily in the office every day and they may be juggling their job with other responsibilities. Maybe she’s on vacation. She tells me not to take the unreturned call and e-mail personally. Natalie suggests I call again. So I do. The volunteer coordinator’s out again; I leave a message for her, politely (really) saying that I’ve already called and wanted to make sure that she got the message. I tell her that I want to volunteer, and I was wondering if they still need people, and to please get back to me one way or the other.

And then I wait.

For another week. Nothing.

If Triangle House were a place I really believed in, I’d try one more time. But I don’t even know much about it. I don’t care enough to try again or wait any more, especially when the Sasha Bruce House and the Acme Shelter both seem like they have so much going on. I figure that if Triangle House does not return repeated calls or e-mails with offers to help, something is wrong in the organization. Not illegal or immoral. Maybe just disorganized or overwhelmed.

I consider sending the executive director a polite e-mail saying that I keep trying to volunteer and no one is getting back to me; clearly they are understaffed and perhaps they could use my help responding to and organizing volunteers. Then I realize that I may even end up as the volunteer coordinator!

Thanks, but no thanks.

Instead, I call one other shelter, the Angus & Louise Society, with a direct offer to help. I get someone on the phone right away. Great! I tell him that I’m interested in volunteering. I tell him about my checking out the other shelters, and I say, “I heard you need volunteers and I was wondering if—,” but before I can finish, he puts me on hold.

I wait.

And when he gets back on, he seems to have forgotten what we were talking about. “I am looking to volunteer,” I say, and he mutters something but I can’t hear him. I ask him to repeat it, but it turns out he wasn’t talking to me, but to someone else on his end. He’s also chewing, loudly.

“I’m looking to volunteer—,” I start again.

“I know,” he grunts, annoyed. “You already told me that.”

He’s unpleasant. I decide that he may be having a bad day. Maybe he has gas. He might just be a jerk. Who knows? But I’m moving on.

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