Volunteering

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Does anyone else feel they've done a lot Of volunteer work?

Did you have expectations of a recommendation from it?

Do you tend to put too much time into simple projects because they keep you active despite dimminished executive function?

Do you then become cynical and burned out?

Of course I brought this up because its my experiance.

I've been volunteering now for various organizations for the past 10 years. At first I must admit it was to socialize because other volunteers wouldn't judged too harshly. I enjoy volunteering a lot but I have to be careful where I do. I get burned out quickly where I have to ineract with too many people, ie. libraries and hospitals. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity though are great. When on the site you have your own tasks that need to be done and prior to that are split up into small teams to get things ready for the different projects.
Places like food banks, animal shelters and helping out differently abled people(I hate that term) are too hard. I become too attached and realize that ultimately I can't do much. Thats when my cynicism kicks in and things get out of hand. Those things also don't do much for me mentally but help me work on my empathy.
What kind of places have you volunteered at?

If thats not what you meant by your post I'll try and add something more relevant.

i've done a lot of volunteer work. what has hurt me is after awhile people seem to forget i have problems, raise their expectations of me, then we end up getting into it because i can't measure up or i won't allow myself to be put under those kinds of stressors.
april

I have helped beta test programs. Most are games but some are online worlds with no shooting or other nasty things. Get to try out new ideas in them and have to file bug reports if I see some. That is the type of volunteering I do but some have turned into blood doner type projects ie take too much time and annoying too much and I have to stop testing.

I vol with a fire department. I have also been with a rescue squad on a vol. basis. I vol with my church, and have assisted in other vol projects, such as Junior Achievement.
I get alot of warm fuzzies from helping others. Thats why im in my 8th year as a vol firefighter, and also what helped me make it my carreer. Though I have to admit, most volunteers dont take the risks I have to take, and dont take the chance of the activity they are engaging in for no pay may kill them in a most horrible way. By being a vol I have made many sacrifices, but just the knowledge that I have done something that is worthwhile for my community is worth it. (That and burning off all that bad karma... lol)

My biggest problem with volunteer work is when to say no. I do get burned out if I take on too much.

That said though, I would recommend volunteer work as a way to become better known in the community.You can volunteer for whatever organization that will allow you to do a job that would be less stressful on you. For example, through the chuch I attend, a group of us volunteer to cook and serve a meal on a Saturday about every 3 months. Since my cooking skills are not the best, I offer to serve (which usually lacks people anyways). I do not interact with the clients too much and as for the volunteers, most of them know me anyways.

Volunteer work is one way to avoid the "alone in your apartment" blues. It works especially well if you can go the work with a group of people you already know. You just have to learn when to say no however so that you do not take on too much.

This is a good thread. I have always been one to volunteer to help with various things in the organization I work for. I also have in the past volunteered at my churches, whether to help set up for a function, or cooking or believe it or not being a hostessfor a table at a tea party. *that was funny, we had a meeting before hand and was told we had to make sure the conversations wer going. She gave us examples of stuff to say. man I felt robotic. There would be no conversaton and I would say someting like "Are you new at the church?" Of course it ended up that everyone had been there longer than I. It wasn't too bad confort wise, I just set back and let then all talk, I thinkeveryone could tellI had a hard time convesing.

My son who has AS would rather do his "work" than play. He loves helping out and gets upset if he cannot.