Volunteering During the Holidays

Many people find the Holidays a good time to volunteer. They have time off from work or school and generally a more giving spirit. While help is needed year-round, it is great to see increased volunteer activity during the holidays. The demand for volunteers during the holidays often exceeds the amount of volunteers! As you continue to cross presents off your holiday shopping list, remember those who are in need of your time and generosity, but may not be able to ask for your help. A great way to help those in need is to volunteer!

Here are some volunteer ideas to consider this Holiday Season:


VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Sponsor A Needy Family

Put food on the table for a family that doesn't have the means to do so when you volunteer with Family-to-family.org, an organization that matches you with a household in need.

Help The Homeless
At a time when warm homes and family gatherings are common, the homeless are left feeling particularly isolated. The National Coalition for the Homeless offers a number of ways for volunteers to combat homelessness by serving food at shelters, building homes, or offering job training. Check out the list of ways you can get involved this year.

Deliver A Meal
Share a meal with a lonely person in need this holiday season when you sign up with Meals on Wheels' food-delivery program.

Volunteer For Vets
Find out how you can thank the veterans who put their lives on the line for our safety by visiting the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Visit A Senior
More than 50 percent of senior citizens in nursing homes never get visitors, according to the Senior Source. Bring a sense of family to someone who doesn't have one, when you volunteer at one of these locations.

Show Some Puppy (or Kitty) Love
Get a warm-fuzzy feeling when you volunteer with furry, loyal creatures who are waiting to find the perfect home. Find an animal shelter that needs your help here.

My favorite animal shelter is Wayside Waifs where I have been a volunteer since 2010. 

GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

American Red Cross

"Give something that means something" when you get involved with the American Red Cross' campaign that aims to do just that. Peruse the list of charitable opportunities, which include vaccinating a child and buying phone cards for troops and offer up the ultimate present of selflessness.  I love volunteering for the Red Cross! 

The Salvation Army

Each holiday season, the Salvation Army amps up its fundraising efforts to help support the elderly, the homeless and other underserved populations. Find out how you can get involved with the Salvation Army's work to offer aid to those in need.

Toys for Tots

Marine Toys for Tots Foundation collects gifts for children who come from economically disadvantaged families. If you don't have a drop-off center near you, consider starting your own. Find out how you can get involved here.

United Way
Looking for an opportunity to donate money or time this holiday season? United Way offers both! There are nearly 1800 community based United Ways in 41 countries and territories. The United Way works to help individuals and families achieve their human potential through education, income stability and healthy lives. Click here to learn more about the United Way.

There are many opportunities to volunteer or give over the holidays and year-round! 

Thank you for donating your time or money to others! Happy Holidays!

Zero Reasons Why

Zero Reasons Why is a teen led story campaign and community mobilization effort to prevent teen suicide. 

I had heard about this organization but really didn't know much about it. Of course, I'm not a teen nor do I have teenage kids so there really isn't much reason why it would pop up on my radar. It did today though. A friend shared a post on facebook that stated teen suicide was down in Johnson County during 2020. Zero Reasons Why was mentioned in the article she linked to her post. According to Elizabeth Holzschuh, the county’s epidemiology director, some of the decline could be attributed to suicide prevention efforts by the county mental health center and Zero Reasons Why.

The group's initiative is having an impact letting teens know "it’s ok to not be ok". They’re reaching out for help, but they’re maybe not getting to that point of attempting or completing suicide. In the article Kessler (Kyle Kessler, executive director of Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, Inc) said ZRW’s impact can be seen in the state’s suicide numbers among people ages 15 to 24, which decreased for the first time in 2019 by 18%. That is great news! 

Zero Reasons Why, created in 2018 by Johnson County teens and the Mental Health Center, is working to expand its reach to the entire Kansas City metro area. They had to adapt to accommodate COVID-19, which meant engaging with the community virtually instead of in-person. Keeping that in mind, they will continue to provide virtual opportunities in 2021. 

Below is a look at the 2021 committee goals are for 2021:

• The events committee is looking to hold virtual events as well as events for students to implement in their own schools. A wellness rock garden is one of the committee’s ideas, in which students would work together to raise mental health awareness and spread kindness.
• In an effort to get youth involved earlier, the middle school committee is looking into connecting with middle school principals so ZRW can speak to students.
• The content committee will be working on spreading awareness with 12 topics that will be highlighted on ZRW’s Instagram for one week each month this year. January’s focus was mental health myths, and February’s topic will be racism.
• ZRW’s convening committee is working to ensure the campaign’s message reaches across demographics and wants to increase participation and attendance.
• Similar to the middle school committee, the marketing committee will also focus on working with eighth graders this year. During mental health awareness week — the first full week of October — the committee will roll out interactive, online activities.
• The orientation committee is aiming to compile a guide for new members, which may include pairing new members with an existing member to help them along the way.

I don't know about you, but I think it is cool there is a teen oriented organization working to reduce suicide in young people. If you want to learn more about Zero Reasons Why visit them on facebook or online.

Community Support Team (CST) for the Shawnee Fire Dept

Oh wow, I really have gotten away from blogging. But not volunteering! Maybe I'll get back to regular blogging soon. One of the volunteer activities I do is changing it's format so that might inspire me to blog a little bit more.

Shawnee's CERT program has gone through some changes over the last few years. We've had a change in leadership. Originally the program was developed under the police department because the individual starting the program was an employee of the police department, then he transitioned to the fire department which meant the CERT program did too. CERT is more of a fire/emergency response program than law enforcement anyway so that was actually a good thing. Then the program director left for another opportunity which unfortunately left the CERT program in limbo. Over the past year, a new leader has taken over the program and the program has seen a shift towards a citizen's fire academy (CFA). With community activity in mind, the CERT program is now evolving in to a Community Support Team (CST) for the Shawnee Fire Dept. The citizen's fire academy will still be available but this new team will allow individuals to continue volunteering beyond the CFA. We have a team meeting this week to learn more. This might just be what I needed to spur my interest in blogging again!

More details to come.... 

Goings on....

I can't believe I haven't posted in here for over a year! I have a suicide prevention blog on wordpress and post on there daily so I guess it's fair to say I am neglecting this blog. The events of the past few weeks have me thinking though... 

Why is it when a mass shooting or other tragedy in the community occurs people are quick to say it must be due to mental illness? Are you aware that the majority of people who struggle with a form of mental illness are not violent? In fact, most acts of violence are committed by people with anger issues and they have not been previously diagnosed with a mental illness (or mental health issue as I prefer to call it). Violence is not a product of mental illness. Nor is violence generally the action of ordinary, stable individuals who suddenly “break” and commit crimes of passion. Violent crimes are committed by violent people, those who do not have the skills to manage their anger.

Here's a good article that explains this concept better than I can:  http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/04/anger_causes_violence_treat_it_rather_than_mental_illness_to_stop_mass_murder.html.  

I hope we live in a world one day where mental illness is not automatically blamed for every act of violence that occurs. Mental health is very misunderstood. Let's educate and be more compassionate. People are afraid to ask for help because they fear being ostracized by society because people don't have an understanding about mental health/illness and honestly don't try to understand unless they have a loved one affected by mental health issues. 

Shawnee Open House

I took a bit of a break from volunteering but got back in the saddle this weekend. I volunteered for a few hours at City of Shawnee's Open House that was held on Saturday September 17, 2016. I am currently a member of Shawnee's CERT team and helped staff an information booth at the Open House. The Open House had a ton of activities for kids and lots of information for adults from the city's different departments including: Maintenance, Parks & Rec, Police, Fire. CERT is run out of the Fire Department which makes sense since it is Emergency Management. Anyhoo... it was a lot of fun (when isn't working with the fire department fun?). The Open House was held at the John B Glaser Fire Station. Here are pics from the event: 

Sparky is a remote controlled car. Firefighters had a great time playing with the kids and the remote car!

Sparky!

LifeStar was a popular attraction especially during landing and again when it took off for the day.

I wasn't representing the Red Cross at the Open Hosue but did make sure to say Hi to the volunteers who represented the RC, including the service dog in training that one of the volunteers brought along! 

LODD

Kansas City has lost another law enforcement officer in the line of duty. This is the 3rd Line of Duty death in the Kansas City area this year.

On September 11, 2016 at approximately 1:30am Master Deputy Brandon Collins was killed when his patrol car was struck from behind while he conducted a traffic stop. He had re-entered his vehicle when a pickup truck struck it from behind. The suspect fled from the scene and was apprehended a short time later. Alcohol may have been a factor in the crash. Master Deputy Collins was a 20 year veteran on the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. RIP Master Deputy Collins. Thank you for your service!

On July 19, 2016 Captain Dave Melton was shot to death while encountering one of the suspects who fled from officers. One suspect was apprehended immediately, the other was later taken in to custody. Captain Melton was a veteran of the Kansas National Guard. RIP Captain Melton. Thank you for your service!

On May 10, 2016 Detective Brad Lancaster was shot to death while assisting officers on a suspicious person call. The suspect fled from officers and was tracked down by Detective Lancaster in a nearby field. The suspect opened fire and was able to flee the scene before being apprehended. He was later located after attempting to carjack a citizen in a nearby city. Detective Lancaster was a US Air Force veteran. RIP Detective Lancaster. Thank you for your service!

To all my friends in blue, I am thinking of you. Thank you for your service!  Please be safe out there!

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. You might be surprised to learn that many people didn't go through with their suicide plan because someone called them, texted them, posted something funny or inspirational on their wall. You probably didn't even know they were struggling. Sometimes it just takes one small gesture to touch someone's life. That small gesture just might save a life.