Volunteer Voice August 2021

Be Well: Self-Care is Relationship Care

This month, as the WCA focuses on how self-care is relationship care – it makes me think of a quote “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” Working in the nonprofit industry, especially for an agency with a humanitarian mission of providing safety, healing and freedom from domestic abuse and sexual assault, can take a lot out of you. As with any demanding work, one has to be sure to take care of themselves.

I love the work that I do, the organization that I work for and the people I get to interact with. But, when it comes down to it, I need to take better care of myself. Recently, I was having a conversation with some of my colleagues about what we do to take care of ourselves. To be straightforward, I was at a bit of a loss when I thought about how I take care of myself. Now that I am just over two months post-op after knee surgery, I’m trying to refocus on finding ways to fill my cup so I can continue to pour my passions into my relationships. I have been trying to get back into activities that bring me joy, such as taking workout classes at the Y, getting out into nature and taking my sweet puppies on walks in the neighborhood. I have also been looking into volunteering with other nonprofits in our community. 

Volunteering is a form of self-care because the work you do in the community can relieve depression and increase personal happiness. Have you heard of the term “community care”? From the website DiscoverMood.com, Kristen Fuller defines community care as “any care provided by a single individual to benefit other individuals in their life. …Sometimes self-care means helping others, and by lending a helping hand, you can feel rejuvenated and fulfilled” (Source: https://discoverymood.com/blog/self-care-and-charity-volunteering/). 

To our WCA volunteers and anyone interested in being part of that wonderful community, I want to say thank you! It makes my heart full to work with all of our wonderful WCA volunteers. There are times when the work that’s needed can be mundane, tedious or draining. We are so grateful that so many willing individuals are willing to devote their time to help us! This month we have officially had the opportunity to invite active WCA volunteers to engage in in-person volunteer activities with us again, such as assisting with our Back to School program. It has been sensational to meet and spend time with new and long-standing WCA volunteers again! I hope to learn from each of you as I grow into my new Volunteer and Events Coordinator role at the WCA.
Be kind to yourself!

With gratitude,

Lupe

WCA Volunteer & Events Coordinator

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Volunteer Spotlight

Armanino LLP

Armanino’s Boise office came in and helped tremendously with a project that has been quite the daunting task: a two-day volunteer project that involved a lot of heavy lifting, re-organizing and inventorying rooms full of generous donations from our community. Their team of 12 volunteers was able to help us consolidate, organize, and document all of the items that we currently have so that we can better serve our clients’ needs.

 ***Any items not needed at this time will be distributed to other local nonprofits to continue to support them as they help individuals in our community.***