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Source: (consider it) Thread: Offbeat volunteering
Loquacious beachcomber
Shipmate
# 8783

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Okay, many of us have probably coached little kid's baseball or hockey; maybe filled in as an umpire and been screamed at, perhaps screeched joyfully in your church choir (sorry!) or helped out some wonderful, needy cause.
But what of offbeat, quirky, even downright weird volunteer positions?
Locally, the hockey arena is one of the community's cultural centre. I have become a bit of a rinkrat. I work as a volunteer at the concession booth, frying french fries, popping popcorn, crafting coffees, hoisting hot chocolate, and selling candy, sports drinks, soda pop, etc.
Now, our little village does not have a professional hockey team, Junior C is about the bottom level now. Last year our team was Junior D, but that was bumped up a notch. These are the teenagers who have missed the brass ring, and will one day play beer league hockey; for now, their dreams have one last gasp.
There are also practices for future NHL stars age 5 and up, and free public skating.
No one will take on the concession booth for profit, but, without it, parents, tykes, and giggling, whispering teenage hockey groupies would freeze devoid of food, drink, or candy.
And truly, this is a fun place to be, and a fun place to people watch.

So, after my over-long OP, what kind of bizarro volunteering have you taken on? (Please regale us with details, the hosts, also volunteers, don't enjoy reading lists.)

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TODAY'S SPECIAL - AND SO ARE YOU (Sign on beachfront fish & chips shop)

Posts: 5954 | From: Southeast of Wawa, between the beach and the hiking trail.. | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528

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I am the paper pusher in chief and screamer-at-bureacrats-on-the-phone extraordinaire for the Vietnamese of this city. If anyone has dreadfully convoluted red tape and/or brainless idiots to deal with, guess who gets them? People hand out my phone number now, bleah. [Projectile]

I am also the unofficial advisor on "whether you need to go to the hospital right NOW or can it be safely left until morning" (this done under the guidance of medical folk, of course). A heckuva lot of people arrived in this country unable to read a thermometer or having the least clue how to bring down a baby's fever, or what those itchy red spots all over were (chicken pox, anyone?). And it's always a joy introducing people to poison oak.

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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!

Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917

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I spent several years helping friends out - their day job is going into primary schools and pretending to be Vikings for the day, and when they needed someone to do spinning and weaving with the kids, they called on me. I got travel expenses, so it really was voluntary.
It really was a huge amount of fun, even when we were dealing with 120 children at a time (which was also a huge amount of work!). I must have shown several thousand children how to weave, and nearly every one of them left with a piece of weaving to take home with them (I got through vast quantities of wool oddments!)
Sadly, my job now, and the difficulty of public transport, meant that I had to give it up.

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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.

Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged
Offeiriad

Ship's Arboriculturalist
# 14031

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In my younger days I was a volunteer lock-keeper on several rivers. Is that offbeat enough?
Posts: 1426 | From: La France profonde | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged
comet

Snowball in Hell
# 10353

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Oooooh I got this one...

I am the vice president and secretary of a Board of Directors of a social society that holds an auction once every year to sell off all of our single men to a room full of screaming single women and then giving all of the proceeds towards a fund to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

We also hold a competition among the single women in backcountry skills that may be attractive to our bachelors, such has hunting, fishing, driving a snow machine, and making a sandwich.

In my role I work for months to put together this event - it's like producing a giant stage show - where we raise something in the order of $14,000 in about 3 hours. I'm also the Wendy Darling to approximately 40 dysfunctional unmarried men. Just today I answered calls asking about what guys should wear to impress the ladies, how much they should spend on "incentives" to be auctioned off with them, and the inevitable question about whether they should put out. for some reason, these guys forget prostitution is illegal. And I always get the nervous, "but what if no one wants to buy me?" all our boys always get bid on. even the really weird ones.

Further, we create the annual "Male Order Catalog" which is a major pain in the ass but once published great fun and a big money maker.

the night of the event I dress in my best girly clothes only to hang out the entire night in the mens room, sending each guy out in turn, talking sweetly to them, sometimes talking firmly to them, adjusting their clothes and patting them on the back.

surely this qualifies as some kind of offbeat?

I do other volunteer work, too, but this is the oddest.

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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions

"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin

Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Uncle Pete

Loyaute me lie
# 10422

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I host on a board called (can you believe it?) Ship of Fools.

[ 27. October 2012, 13:56: Message edited by: PeteC ]

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Even more so than I was before

Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Chorister

Completely Frocked
# 473

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Well isn't that strange, so do I! People do look at you rather strangely when you try to explain what I do when I'm not being a volunteer steward to keep the church open to visitors. But then they do understand that the internet (at large) can easily be overwhelmed by undesirable posts and so then they nod sagely as if they understand. But I tell you, they don't realise the half of it.

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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.

Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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I am my church's family historian. If someone contacts the church to ask if their great great granny is in our graveyard, I deal with their query.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
Earwig

Pincered Beastie
# 12057

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I'm a cat socialiser. I teach them how to address Royalty, how to hold a martini glass, and how to make small talk at a party.

Well, sort of. I go to my local RSPCA and play with the abandoned kittes, getting them used to humans again (or sometimes for the first time) so they're more likely to 'stick' and be good pets once they're adopted. The kittens are the best gig - so cute!

Posts: 3120 | From: Yorkshire | Registered: Nov 2006  |  IP: Logged
blackbeard
Ship's Pirate
# 10848

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I'm a sailing instructor.
I help with sailing for disabled.
It's a great privilege, and I meet some very brave people.

Besides, I like messing about in boats.

Posts: 823 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Lyda*Rose

Ship's broken porthole
# 4544

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With a Ship name like yours, who'da thunk, blackbeard? [Biased]

Not too weird, but I make up welcome mugs for visitors to our church.

See, like fifteen years ago someone thought it would be a good idea to buy a zillion ceramic coffee mugs with our logo, phone, addy, and parish prayer on them as a fund raiser. Our church doesn't have a zillion people. It didn't even in the day. Besides that the manufacturer made a typo on the parish prayer, so they sent an equal number of free replacement cups with the word corrected. Yikes!

Every coffee drinking adult in the church at the time bought one. And then the rest sat. For years.

Until I got the bright idea to stuff each one with a green cellophane wrapped bundle of hard candy, a church brochure, a pencil with our correct phone number (our area code changed during the years and so did our parish prayer, but that's okay), and an interest card. They've become pretty popular, and I'm scolded (but nicely) if I get behind on assembling them. [Hot and Hormonal] [Smile]

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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano

Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Jengie jon

Semper Reformanda
# 273

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I eat bacon sandwiches for breakfast.

My church hosts a community breakfast on a Friday. There are of course the usual volunteers, who buy, cook and serve it and clear up afterwards but there are also the volunteers who come eat breakfast alongside people who come and listen to what they have to say!

Jengie

p.s. I also help clear the hall afterwards

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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge

Back to my blog

Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Og, King of Bashan

Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562

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quote:
Originally posted by comet:
Oooooh I got this one...

I am the vice president and secretary of a Board of Directors of a social society that holds an auction once every year to sell off all of our single men to a room full of screaming single women and then giving all of the proceeds towards a fund to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

We had a similar auction in my college Fraternity, to raise money for similar causes. But we were in drag, and called it a bachelorette auction (none of us can run for office as a consequence of the pictures that are still out there, but that is probably for the better). Run that by the board next year and see if it flies.

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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy

Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
no prophet's flag is set so...

Proceed to see sea
# 15560

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I was runner up in the Ms Camp Easter Seals Pageant. I actually was quite losing, until the talent competition. The milk delivery person had shown up to the camp and I pulled him in and introduced him to the audience, I suspect our pseudo-smooching helped. He was a very good sport. The winner was simply prettier than I. [Frown]

The Easter Seals Camps are for disabled children and adults to have a summertime week by a lake with accessible activities.

After that experience, the camp admin felt it had free licence to us as volunteers. I was voluntold to do quite a number of things after that, which I gladly did, including teaching some people to read, others to shop and cook. Eventually I trained a dog to be a therapy dog, and took him along, though now I mostly visit in hospitals. Palliative care is frequent call. I went to qualify as a dog evaluator. It's rather odd the chain of events when I think of it: beauty pageant to therapy dog visitor. Yes, the dog is prettier than I as well. [Big Grin]

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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/

Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010  |  IP: Logged
comet

Snowball in Hell
# 10353

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quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
quote:
Originally posted by comet:
Oooooh I got this one...

I am the vice president and secretary of a Board of Directors of a social society that holds an auction once every year to sell off all of our single men to a room full of screaming single women and then giving all of the proceeds towards a fund to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

We had a similar auction in my college Fraternity, to raise money for similar causes. But we were in drag, and called it a bachelorette auction (none of us can run for office as a consequence of the pictures that are still out there, but that is probably for the better). Run that by the board next year and see if it flies.
oh, there's always at least one in every bunch. We usually get a Santa Claus, too.

the guys have to come up with their own runway schtick. Some go with drag, some do a strip tease, some have thematic costumes, and most just look really awkward and nervous. bless'em.

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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions

"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin

Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772

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Currently I'm about to go back to a volunteer position running a small library in a gay youth center. I've organized it from donations. For youth who are just coming out, it gives the message that being Gay or Lesbian is more than just the pursuit of sex.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011  |  IP: Logged
Carex
Shipmate
# 9643

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I've had a number of volunteer roles, which have lead to some unusual situations.

One morning when I was out of work I was studying hard for a French class final exam that evening. One piece of the verbal exam was to describe what we had done that day, particularly using reflexive verbs.

At that point my Search and Rescue pager distracted me, and out we went to look for a missing person. As the day wore on, I was carefully practicing how I would describe the events in French.

That evening I calmly described how we had followed footprints to find the body of a person who had killed himself (a reflexive verb), put the body in the truck, the truck got stuck in the sand, the transmission broke on the other truck, we ran out of fuel on the way home, etc. I suspect that the growing look of shock on her face was only partly due to my unaccustomed fluency in French from practicing all day.

Apparently most students lead much more mundane lives.

Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged
Jigsaw
Shipmate
# 11433

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Our local Footpaths Society has volunteers who walk all of its routes once a year and report any access problems so that their leaflets and websites can be kept up to date and landowners reminded of their duties to keep the paths clear. Good exercise, minimum commitment, and benefits the community.

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You are not alone in this.

Posts: 743 | From: Snorbens, UK | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged


 
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