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Volunteering
Volunteers make a difference at TWCP!
TWCP is always looking for people
to help with a wide array of projects at our facility. These
include answering phones, assisting with mailings, and helping
at special programs or fund-raising events. We always have a
job that can be done.
If you can give one hour or more of your time, it makes a huge
difference. If you are interested in volunteering, please call
215-879-7733, or email info@twcp.org. |
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Volunteers also help with outreach efforts at TWCP. This involves
delivering information packets to local cancer centers and working
the outreach table at various area health fairs or conferences. If
this is of interest to you, please contact Outreach Director, Theresa
Donnelly, at 215-879-7733, or email her at tdonnelly@twcp.org.
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Advocacy Action—Getting
Into Volunteering |
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Here’s how you
can find an organization that fits you
By Dom Roberti
The surgery to remove my prostate cancer in 1993 seemed successful.
So, when the cancer began to come back in 2001, I was devastated,
as was my wife, Carole. Our first glimmer of hope came from The Wellness
Community of Philadelphia (TWCP), which helps people affected by cancer
enhance their health and well-being through participation in a program
of emotional support, education and hope. We attended weekly support
groups, learned to meditate and changed our diets. We are now healthier—cancer
aside—in body, mind and spirit than we were before the cancer.
Carole and I both decided to volunteer for TWCP because we wanted
to do something to help others in similar circumstances. Carole answers
the phone and volunteers as a receptionist one morning a week. Once
a month, I tell my story before a group of newcomers at an introductory
session during which cancer survivors and clinical staff provide information
about TWCP’s programs and services.
Volunteering for a cancer support group or advocacy organization can
be richly fulfilling. Through our own experience with cancer, Carole
and I are able to offer hope to people who are as frightened and distressed
as we were not so long ago. But deciding to volunteer requires some
thought and planning to find a role and organization that suits you.
Here are some tips to make your experience a good one:
1.
Make a commitment. Volunteering will take some time and effort,
so it cannot be left to a casual decision. Make a firm agreement with
yourself about what, when and how you will do it.
2. Choose
an organization you believe in. It’s great to work in a
place where you feel that you are contributing to a worthwhile effort.
You will find that the psychic income more than makes up for the lack
of monetary compensation.
3. Consider your skills and
inclinations. If you thoroughly enjoy the work you ordinarily
do (or used to do), look for an opportunity to use those same skills
as a volunteer. On the other hand, the opportunity to experience something
new, perhaps something you never had a chance to do before, can be
refreshing.
4. Be flexible. To get the best match
you can, be willing to experiment with something less than ideal.
Welcome the opportunity to stretch yourself a little with new challenges.
The organization will appreciate your willingness to adapt to their
needs rather than focusing on your own.
5. Build in regularity.
If you can, set a regular schedule for yourself. If you know you will
be going in every Thursday morning, for example, volunteering will
feel more like a regular job and you will be less likely to put it
off when you’re not in the mood.
6. Expand your
horizons. Volunteering can bring you into contact with all kinds
of people with all types of backgrounds and experiences. Listen to
their stories and share your own. Your world will become larger and
more interesting.
7. Develop your altruism. Reflect
on your motives and include an intention to help others. Becoming
less self-centered and more altruistic will bring greater satisfaction
in your work and in your daily life.
Dom Roberti is a retired college chemistry professor who lives in
Philadelphia with his wife, Carole, a medical transcriptionist.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SUPPORT GROUPS AND THE WELLNESS
COMMUNITY:
The Wellness Community
www.thewellnesscommunity.org
Toll-free phone: 1-888-793-WELL (1-888-793-9355)
E-mail: help@thewellnesscommunity.org
Used by permission of CR Magazine Winter 2007 Issue |
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