What is your cause?

[Liamson]

great thread idea. : )

in the past, i've been very active with animal shelters, and those causes, (including eradicating puppy mills and pet store commercialism) will always have a soft place in my heart.

but nowadays, i would say my "cause" is more likely the disenfranchised. those people who seem to fall through the cracks, and, in spite of programs and help, seem to lack any real personal involvement or connection. people who often are no longer seen as individuals, but rather a "group" or faceless need.

people who need someone to become personally involved in their life, in a small or larger way, because they either have no one, or no one else will help.

for example:

as i've shared before, i currently am involved with an "at-risk" jr. high girls group (ages 11-13) that i volunteer with, which originated as a special "in school program" that is sponsored by the girl scouts. we meet at least once a week during the school year, and do some stuff off-site as well. all of these girls have my phone number, and most of them text, talk to, or stay in touch with me on some level during the week, as well. two have come to church with me. we usually have a few sleepovers throughout the year.

the majority are displaced, in some fashion, either living with a relative, or surviving difficult family situations. one is currently in foster care, and two others have been removed/surrendered from their parent(s) and placed with foster or protective care during some point in their childhood. two of the girls have never had any kind of contact with their fathers.

the only criteria for being in this group is nomination from the school counselor that they are struggling to meet their school requirements or need additional mentoring/support, so the fact that they have such family/situational instability and a lack of successful school career seems entirely related. every year the group grows larger in size. four years ago, we started with 7 girls, and this year i have 13.

i have also been involved with homeless ministries as well, and continue to support a couple of ministries that work with them.

 

[Test_F_i_2_Luv]

This is what I was going to say as well. I will readily admit that I don't do nearly enough to be active in this area in terms of volunteering, holding signs, etc. but I feel very passionately about this subject. It's actually one of the reasons that I believe that the resulting donations to ALSA from the ice bucket challenge are doing as much harm as they are good--because the ALSA financially supports embryonic stem cell research, which involves purposefully fertilizing an egg and then aborting the child later on for the purpose of medical research.

This is what I was going to say as well. I will readily admit that I don't do nearly enough to be active in this area in terms of volunteering, holding signs, etc. but I feel very passionately about this subject. Non-profit organizations can always use financial assistance. Because they don't have great cash flow, they maximize the value of the funds they do get. They can use volunteers, too, and sometimes have very simple tasks that need to be done. I've been asked once or twice to help stuff mail-outs. Unfortunately, my work schedule hasn't permitted me to help out with that activity.

There is plenty of opportunity to advocate life without holding signs. In the last couple weeks, I've been defending the right-to-life for unborn humans who were the result of assault as well as assistance to the mothers right here on these boards.

 

[JesusLives]

When my daughter was younger she and I volunteered at a family homeless shelter and watched the children while they had a group meeting for the adults. We love art and have volunteered for art festivals in soda booths. I volunteered a little in the office of a Habitat for Humanity. I was in several singing groups over the years and in one of those groups we went to sing for the soldiers at Ft. Knox in Kentucky.

It is such a blessing to volunteer.

 

[Tinkerbell725]

I give financial aid, participate in a small scholarship program for working students to give them hope for a brighter future free from poverty.

 

[violakat]

I volunteer with a mission group in advocating for the orphans. Right now, we are mainly involved with Haiti but looking to start ministries in other countries. And one day, I will get to go on one of the trips. But until then, I'll help here.