If You’re Having a Bad Day, Then Don’t
Bobby Thalhimer
May 16, 2009
Kristan Schaaf was having a bad day last January, when Media General announced furloughs for the staff to cut expenses. “With the negativity prevalent in the workplace and on the news,” recalls Kristan, “I decided to surround myself with better. There is good going on despite all bad.”
Donning a positive attitude and brimming with desire to spend her unpaid time doing something for someone less fortunate, Kristan reflected on her prior work at Beads for Life (http://www.familymatters.tv/level_4/makeadifference/beadsforlife.htm), a program that created a cottage industry in Uganda to help women earn their way out of poverty. While a week is too short for most mission trips, Kristan found Heaven Sent Ministries (http://www.hsminc.org/), which assists people who want to make a difference and have limited time. Early this morning, with the financial participation of friends and family, she left for Honduras bearing gifts for kids, donated clothing and 24 toothbrushes.
“I will be staying with two missionaries who live in a house in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
I am helping out with the children’s orphanages, both local and state run. I have never done anything like this before. Everyone is so supportive. I really need this in my life right now.”
Jennifer Miller had an even worse day last January, losing her job of 9 years at Circuit City. She made a poignant observation, “With my pink slip in hand, I realized that I had just been promoted to full time volunteer. I had always wanted to have more time to volunteer and now I had my chance.”
In her own words:
“My first week off, I began taking a group of former Circuit City associates to the Central Virginia Foodbank (http://www.feedmore.org/) to volunteer in the warehouse. As the weeks went by, my group grew. I started with 3 volunteers and ended up taking between 12 and15 each week. I started to put together a fundraising cookbook for the Foodbank, thanks to the support of Pat Morris. I never would have been able to kick off such a large project while I was working. We intend to go to print this fall in time to sell lots of cookbooks for the Holidays.
“I also used my free time to volunteer more with Hands On Greater Richmond (http://www.handsongr.org/). Although I had become a Team Leader last summer, I had always been too busy working to volunteer as much as I would have liked. So, I started signing up for all kinds of projects from painting murals at a community center to feeding the homeless at the Conrad Center and to doing arts and crafts with the kids at HomeAgain. I updated the training manual for the HOGR Team Leaders, working out of the office with Vanessa Diamond and her team at least once a week, helping however I could. Vanessa and Elaine Summerfield asked me to chair the Steering Committee for Hands On Greater Richmond Day on October 17th, so we’ve started the planning for that over the last few months.
“I am also on the Cabinet for the Susan G. Komen Race for The Cure, as the Volunteer Co-Chair, so my free time allowed me to get more involved with the planning and preparation for our Race on May 9. I helped plan our first Annual Volunteer Celebration and Training Luncheon on April 25 to thank our volunteers during National Volunteer Week. And just this week, they asked me to help plan the Survivor Celebration in September.”
Jennifer’s story has a happy ending. She found a job in early April as the communications and training manager for AECOM (http://www.aecom.com/). Jennifer reminisces about her 10-week career as a full-time volunteer, “I know now that I will always make time for my volunteer work, and I will never allow my “day-job” to be as all-consuming as it was when I worked at Circuit City.”
Mom was right. If you’re having a bad day, then don’t. You have a choice.
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Jul. 10, 2009 at 01:39 AM
This is very inspiring and it’s great to see such caring individuals taking the time to do good for those who are less fortunate. However, it seems like this isn’t an option for everyone. If you could afford to do volunteer work instead of a day job then this is a great alternative. But if you really need the money of a day job you don’t really have the option to volunteer the bulk of your time regardless of how strongly you feel for helping the less fortunate.
Jun. 22, 2009 at 12:27 PM
I want to share an excerpt of Kristan’s email from Honduras:
Good morning! I wanted to send a quick email to say hi and let you know how much I miss you all. Everything in San Pedro Sula, Honduras is going well. I miss home more than anything, but I know what I am doing here is touching the lives of many.
Living in a 3rd world country is tough… no hot water, no air conditioning (except for our bedroom has a unit), mosquitos galore and undescribable poverty. I couldn’t even begin to describe how awful it is. Most people live in make shift cardboard homes with no more than 2
rooms with at least 10-12 people living in it. And this is how the “well off” poor live, the rest live on the streets; doing hard drugs, sniffing glue, and bathing in local sewers. And yes, I have been working with these people. It is heart-wrenching, and many times unbearable to deal with.
The children are what breaks my heart. You
see the youngest at maybe 6 years old prostituting themselves, being physically abused, abonded and left for dead. They are angels, and all they want is a big hug and to be loved. The children here are so different from American children. They are grateful for anything &
everything.
We went to the public orphange yesterday after we went to
the Honduran prision… and the public orphange was worse off than the prison. The prison was luxury compared to this orphanage. Children were scrammbling for the broken cookies we had and screaming for the juice we brought. That has been the hardest thing for me so far.
It really makes me appreciate everything I have. I could go on & on, but I promised I would write when I got the
chance. I have to run though, we are working with the street people today. And at only 10am it is 90 degrees with 100% humidity.
May. 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
I have so much respect for Kristan and Jennifer, making the most of a less-than-ideal situation. Its so easy to wallow in self-pity, but not nearly as satisfying as giving your time to improve the lives of others! Kudos to these inspiring women.
Also, I encourage your readers to check out BeadForLife.org. It’s a great organization that makes it EASY to help people in another part of the world with much less fortunate lives than ours. You simply throw a party and sell handmade beaded jewelry, and the proceeds go directly to the Ugandan women who made the beads. All it requires is a little planning and a great group of friends, family and neighbors to make it work!
May. 18, 2009 at 12:27 PM
A friend of mine recently was laid off, so I encouraged him to volunteer at Meals on Wheels. His attitude almost instantly changed from negative to positive. He’s more proactive in finding new employment, but, at the same time, stays very busy tending to the needs of others.
May. 16, 2009 at 09:41 PM
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