I have just embarked upon on a new volunteering adventure and I'm already disenchanted with it. Can you blame me? Since I moved to Maine ten years ago, I have volunteered in the following positions at the following institutions. Sadly, none of it helped anyone, including me:
Maine Medical Barbara Bush Children's Center: Pushed a cart around the hospital floor, dispensing candy bars to doctors and nurses who were "hungry and tired from working so hard." (Four-hour shift, once a week. After completing two months of weekly training sessions and two TB tests to qualify, I did it for three weeks before almost completely losing my sanity.)
Maine Medical Orthopedic Center: Gave out paper garments for patients to wear during their X-ray examinations. (Three-hour shift, once a week. I lasted three months because it was so dumb I could hardly believe it.)
Mid-Coast Hospital: Knocked on the doors of rooms where sick people were recovering from surgery to ask their opinions on the hospital food and if they needed anything, like magazines. I had to use hand sanitizer when entering and again when leaving every room. (Four-hour shift, once a week. Lasted five weeks, no training required but the skin on my hands became raw and painful.)
Portland Museum of Art: Sat at an information desk and directed people to the bathrooms and cafe. Four-hour shift, twice a week. (Did it for three months until the snows came and my supervisor said it "didn't matter" if I came in at all, ever.)
Freeport Community Center Food Pantry: Handed out canned foods and day-old cakes, pastries and breads to people on welfare. Four-hour shift once a week. (Lasted for 18 months, hoping to make a difference in the way they did things, like putting the new frozen turkeys behind the old ones in the freezer. Didn't work.)
Portland Ronald McDonald House: Did laundry and changed bed sheets, washed dishes, cleaned the kitchen and swept the floors where the parents of sick kids stayed for free, sometimes for months at a time, and did nothing to keep the place clean. Four-hour shift, once a week. (Lasted three weeks until I realized that I had dirty laundry, dishes and floors at home and I didn't have to drive half an hour to get to them.)
Maine Medical Orthopedic Center: Gave out paper garments for patients to wear during their X-ray examinations. (Three-hour shift, once a week. I lasted three months because it was so dumb I could hardly believe it.)
Mid-Coast Hospital: Knocked on the doors of rooms where sick people were recovering from surgery to ask their opinions on the hospital food and if they needed anything, like magazines. I had to use hand sanitizer when entering and again when leaving every room. (Four-hour shift, once a week. Lasted five weeks, no training required but the skin on my hands became raw and painful.)
Portland Museum of Art: Sat at an information desk and directed people to the bathrooms and cafe. Four-hour shift, twice a week. (Did it for three months until the snows came and my supervisor said it "didn't matter" if I came in at all, ever.)
Freeport Community Center Food Pantry: Handed out canned foods and day-old cakes, pastries and breads to people on welfare. Four-hour shift once a week. (Lasted for 18 months, hoping to make a difference in the way they did things, like putting the new frozen turkeys behind the old ones in the freezer. Didn't work.)
Portland Ronald McDonald House: Did laundry and changed bed sheets, washed dishes, cleaned the kitchen and swept the floors where the parents of sick kids stayed for free, sometimes for months at a time, and did nothing to keep the place clean. Four-hour shift, once a week. (Lasted three weeks until I realized that I had dirty laundry, dishes and floors at home and I didn't have to drive half an hour to get to them.)
All the information I ever needed I get here from you. I always wondered about volunteering and there you are lol
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