First Time Volunteering
After my first experience volunteering with the Ronald
McDonald House, I was overwhelmed with the effort that the staff, volunteers,
and guests put into making everyone feel welcome. I spent most of my volunteer
time doing basic household cleaning (washing windows, vacuuming carpets,
cleaning countertops, taking out the trash), which improved my cleaning skills
but didn’t exactly teach me much. However, I also received the opportunity to
sit down and eat breakfast with the other volunteers at the house (and
whichever family members left their room, although the house is very quiet on
weekend mornings). I was delighted to witness this idea of “family” in the
house while I was there. The volunteers were treated like members of the Ronald
McDonald team, eating alongside guests and desk workers. In addition, the desk
worker that day always encouraged volunteers to take breaks if they were tired
and to check the pantry for soda if they needed a drink. As volunteers, our
main idea is that we are there to help and take care of other people, but often
times the other people have the same ideas about us.
I also cleaned a guest room after a family checked out.
Cleaning rooms isn’t exactly all that interesting, as it’s a repetition of many
of the same tasks we do outside of the private rooms. I was mostly impressed
with the fact that the rooms were already so clean to begin with. Families
staying in the house obviously respect the help they are receiving and the time
that the volunteers are providing. They make sure to take care of the
environment they’re provided and are always very polite with us working in the
house. The Ronald McDonald House succeeds in its goal of making a positive
environment for volunteers and families undergoing lots of stress.
As I close this blog post, I end with a photograph of a chalkboard that hangs in the volunteer room in the Ronald McDonald House. I think the staff and the guests there really understand the true meaning behind this quote.
It's interesting that the Ronald McDonald House has such a great work environment! I've never really considered how much the families who have been helped through the Ronald McDonald House appreciate what they have received. It's amazing that even through the tough times they have endured, they stop to consider the welfare of the organization that is helping them, and even do what they can to make the organization's job easier. This really puts in perspective the sheer amount that RMH does to provide aid for families in need and how you, as a volunteer, are helping to make this aid possible. Even though cleaning rooms probably wasn't much fun at all, I'm glad you were able to keep in sight the value of your volunteerism for this organization and what it does to help the community.
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ReplyDeleteIt's awesome how welcome they made you feel as a volunteer! I know some places where I've volunteered, I felt like they were almost taking advantage of my labor. I'm sure that with how well they treat their volunteers, they probably have really great volunteer retention, which is really awesome for any organization. I know you mentioned that you felt like you didn't really learn much from your time there with all the cleaning and whatnot, but I'm sure your work was still really helpful. After all, if volunteers do the cleaning and everything, that's one less person they have to hire, and more money that can go to helping to house the families! I hope that you found the rest of your experiences with Ronald McDonald really valuable.
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