At lunch recently with a good friend, I mentioned that I will have a break between finishing up with my bachelors degree and starting on my masters. Grad schools don’t start until fall, and I’ll be done by the end of December. I mentioned that I’ve been doing some very local volunteer work, and I’d like to expand on that in the months I have available. A longtime volunteer herself, my friend suggested I join New York Cares, hands down the largest organization for volunteers in the city. Magnificently inspired, I logged onto their site when I got home and reserved a spot in one of their upcoming orientation sessions. I was amazed to discover that most of their sessions were already full to capacity, and the next available one I could attend was the day before I was registered to take the GRE, the standardized test required by grad schools.
On the subject of the GRE, which I wrote about preparing for in GRE Glee, airport security has nothing on that test. I had never taken a standardized test by computer before and it’s pretty intense. First, all of your belongings – and I mean down to your Chapstick – have to be locked in a locker, the lock for which is the ONLY thing you can have on your person beside your ID when you enter the testing room. How, you wonder, will they know if you sneak in the Chapstick? Three ways: one, they will see it when you turn all of your pockets inside out; two, they will see you smearing it on your face through one of the video surveillance cameras inside the testing room; and three, they will hear you smacking your lips with relief through the microphones positioned throughout the room. So the only thing you better have written on your hand is, “Remember to pee.” I also didn’t realize that all different tests would be going on at the same time as mine. A little girl taking an IQ test was sitting at a station near me, and at one point I heard her sigh softly and moan the word ‘math’. I felt her pain to the x power.
In contrast, the New York Cares orientation was feel-good and inspiring. The room was full of people of absolutely every age, appearance, and walk of life. The speaker, himself a veteran volunteer, truly imparted the spirit of the organization when he described the needs the organization meets. Volunteers can do everything from yoga with autistic children, library storytelling, deliver meals to homebound people, accompany city kids on urban outings, help with social events at nursing homes, paint outdoor murals, plant trees, assist immigrants studying for their citizenship test, and on and on. The best advice the speaker gave us was to get outside our comfort zone. If someone is a teacher, try gardening at one of the city’s 132 parks. If they’re an athletic coach, volunteer to record books for the blind. He said the most fun and the biggest connection often comes from trying something new.
There are 53,000 volunteers with New York Cares, and they serve over 400,000 of their fellow citizens a year. Non-profits, public schools, and city agencies throughout the five boroughs depend on New York Cares to meet critical needs. Those bins you pass at firehouses this time of year that are filled with donated winter coats to be distributed to 70,000 people are part of New York Cares. This holiday season, if you want to feel the magic of helping someone, visit newyorkcares.org/winterwishes and answer one of the letters to Santa from a child whose only holiday gift might be yours.
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