I've talked about it before, but one of the things I love most about Utah is the sense of community and the willingness of people to go out of their way to help others in need. Utah has consistently had the highest percentage of citizens who volunteer and the number has increased since Utah State government has gone to a 4-day work week. Today, I volunteered for Toys for Tots and there were so many people there that we were running out of things to do. It makes me so happy to see other people donate their time to a cause.
My friends are the type of people that volunteer. Almost everyone I know here has a volunteer gig or helps out different organizations whenever they can. For some it is political involvement, others I know work with the Utah Food Bank, Utah Pride Center, People's Market, The Road Home, Sundance Film Institute, Toys for Tots and many more. My volunteering gig for many years has been the Red Cross. I started volunteering at the Boulder Chapter back home when I was in high school and took several years off before finally joining the chapter here in Salt Lake. I started as a Disaster Action Team (DAT) member that responds to local disasters with assistance of food, clothing, and shelter. I quickly became a DAT team assistant lead, and about a year and a half ago was asked to become Vice Chair of Disaster Services which oversees not just the DAT teams, but also teams are vital to our response to large disasters and national responses. I was flattered and accepted the position.
Now, a year and a half later, I am stepping down as Vice Chair and taking some time away from disaster response. It's emotionally difficult to deal with many of the situations we are asked to respond to and there is an added stress in a leadership situation when you are being asked to make decisions on the fly. Not all decisions made at 2am when you just woke up end up being the right decisions! I really miss working directly with clients that are affected and while sometimes I still get the chance to, it isn't as often as I would like. I have a tremendous guilt about stepping down, but I have enjoyed my time working with the Red Cross so much. Enough that I will stick around in a lesser capacity for years to come. My plan is to step away completely for a few months and take a breather, then I would like to go back to just being a DAT team member which requires less of a commitment, but more time working with those directly affected by disasters.
With that tough decision made, it does free up my schedule to take on some new opportunities. There are a few that have been presented to me and I can't wait to see what's next. In January, I will be volunteering at the Sundance Film Festival for the first time which is exciting and I am hoping to take on food box delivery with the Utah Food Bank shortly after that with one of my friends. I am so blessed to have had all the opportunities I've had and giving back always seems like the right thing to do, not to mention that it is fun and sometimes there are cute Marines to look at while sorting toys.
