I have been volunteering at Franklinton Farms in Columbus, Ohio for a couple of years now, and I love it! My son and I started there in the fall of 2020; I thought it would be a nice way for him and I to contribute and engage in community together. The Volunteer Coordinator there simply sends out a sign-up genius form every month, and you choose the time that fits your schedule. You can go help weed the gardens, or work the booth at the Farmer's Market. It's super easy, we were able to be outside and active, and feel like we were contributing.

Once we started traveling, I had the opportunity to volunteer as a grant writer. At first, I was researching grants assigned to me through a google spreadsheet, determining whether they were a good fit for the farms, and noting the date and deadline type. Recently, I've started writing grants. I mostly copy and paste language from previous grants and then alter it a bit to align with the parameters of the specific grant I'm working on. This is a great experience for me to do something low-key and on my own time, and the staff is always supportive.

The Project MORE program is an opportunity to work one-on-one with students in schools in Ohio. In the program, mentors sit with one student at a time for thirty minutes each, supporting the students while they sharpen their reading skills. I participated in this program through my childrens' elementary school. Once a week I would head in to the classroom where the teacher would hand me a packet with a checklist and all of the materials for the day, and the student and I would sit in the hallway and read together.

I enjoyed the ease and simplicity of this volunteer opportunity--the teachers would tell me what time to come in, what student to work with, and I would simply follow the list handed to me. I also enjoyed the one-on-one interaction with students, it was fun to chat with them and hear about their day, while also helping to strengthen their reading skills.

The national Court Appointed Special Advocate program supports children who are in need of a permanent, nurturing home. To become a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), I had to complete an interview process, background check, and approximately twenty hours of training. After I completed the training, I was given a case (or two) where a child had been removed from their home due to abuse and/or neglect. My job was to advocate for that child by interviewing all the parties involved with the case, filing court reports, and attending court hearings where we would help express the child's wishes to the court.

The CASA program, as I understand it, is designed to introduce a degree of flexibility into an otherwise bureaucratic process. While social workers and other parties to the case are bound by specific parameters, CASAs are able to advocate for the children's individual and specific needs.

Many people who are CASA volunteers are retired, as the job does require flexibility of scheduling and meetings or hearings during the day. The satisfaction involved in this job for me was high, but the mechanics were difficult. I was already managing my kids' schedules, my show and teaching schedules, and trying to work in these meetings as well was a challenge. But, if you have flexibility in your day, I highly recommend this volunteer work.