Denise Payton is often recognized. From her time at Easter Seals to CASA to her current role as case manager for the Will County Children's Advocacy Center, she has created a career in nonprofit management that she said grew from her time as a volunteer.
On May 28, she spoke to the attendees of the Plainfield Chamber of Commerce Women You Should Know luncheon.
In addition to encouraging the attendees to fit volunteering into their schedule, she gave tips to us on how to make volunteering more possible.
1. Be realistic. Think about what realistically can fit into your schedule. Maybe your not fit for volunteering that requires 30 hours of training and a certain hour commitment per week. But you might be able to help plan an event, or to commit to one hour a week in a program through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy County
2. Attend an event. Payton points out that attending a fundraising event, such as the Steelman 5K Race at the Chicago Speedway on June 1
3. Look at things that make you excited and passionate. Payton said choose the place you volunteer at wisely. Volunteering to help individuals dealing with end of life issues and their families at Joliet Area Community Hospice is not for everyone, but for those who are interested in it, it is a great fit. And if something is not a good fit, do not be afraid to admit it, be honest with the agency and find another, better fit.
4. Donate time within your business. Find a volunteering opportunity that is a good fit with what you do for a living. If you, for example, are a manicurist, volunteer hours at a senior home to give manicures to women who ordinarily might not be pampered. You can go one step further and make it part of a corporate culture.
5. Volunteer as a group. In this way, you can make an even bigger difference. For example, CASA has a waiting room designed for young children, but could use a space for tweens and teens. The room is available, but nothing has been designed. A group could take up the cause and create a space for those older children.
Still not sure what to do, but want to volunteer? Contact United Way of Will County. With 45 agency partners, they are sure to be able to help find a good fit.
Dawn Aulet is a woman, a writer, a wife and a mother. Often, the lens
through which she sees the world is colored by these roles, but not
always. Sometimes, her experiences have less to do with her roles and
more with the frustration of being a consumer, the need to put gas in
her car or the realization that the world does not have any obligation
to deliver what she expects.
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