#58 Thinking About Volunteering But Never Getting To It

There comes a breaking point in unemployment where those without jobs stop thinking about themselves and start thinking about those who are less fortunate. Sure, it sucks to lose a job and not be able to find a new one, but there are people who can’t even work, who don’t have homes, and who could really benefit from the skills and time unemployed people have to offer. 

Occasionally, especially when there are no new job postings for a week, the unemployed will take a look at volunteer opportunities in their neighborhood. Internally, they get pumped up at the notion of doing good with their time, and create a little schedule in their head that includes helping at a soup kitchen, spending time at a pet shelter, reading to blind kids, or keeping old people company. If they’re ambitious, they’ll check out international volunteer opportunities, think about building homes with Habitat for Humanity type organizations, and peruse Doctors Without Borders naively believing anyone can be a doctor in a third world country. 

Volunteering sounds easy enough and the unemployed have plenty of time to spare, plus it’s a great way to get out and do something while building a network. When employed at a company, it was easy to volunteer because there was always a coordinator who would take care of all the details and people just had to show up. Without a coordinator, and having had several months of unemployment uselessness, there’s something that prevents unemployed people from thinking about volunteering and actually volunteering. There’s always some obstacle, like filling out a form online, having to do a weekend of training, or being required to commit to a certain amount of hours. Commitment?! That’s something the unemployed are scared to do because they love their freedom, plus they want to keep their schedules open for the job they’re not even looking for. 

Eventually, the unemployed get so dragged down by the guilt of not volunteering, that they can’t even get themselves to look at opportunities again. When people tell them, “You should volunteer with your time” they’re quick to respond that they’ve looked, and are interested, but are unwilling to confess that they can’t get themselves to show up, especially after sleeping through countless orientation sessions. After a few months, they start making excuses like, “They expect me to pay to volunteer. I’m unemployed!” Then they die a little inside knowing how many people out there could be helped while they sat around going crazy for literally doing nothing. It’s a vicious cycle – the intentions to volunteer are there, but the unemployed need more than a scolding to get to it, they need to be dragged out of the house and have a ladle forced into their hand.

Tags: things to do when unemployed, unemployment fail, volunteering