Love In Action

Written by Amanda Cote

On August 10, 2011

Do you think you can make a difference by what you do? It’s true, it takes only one act of kindness for the wheel to move. – Copyright 2000 Tammy Joseph

When I was asked to write a blog about our volunteer opportunities at Charleston Promise Neighborhood, I had no idea where to start. I decided to focus on the reasons for volunteering. Yes, we all know that people volunteer for many reasons, sometimes personal, but always for a purpose. When I was single, many people told me to volunteer so I could meet someone who shared my interests. I did, and I met some great people along the way.

Yes, I enjoyed my volunteer days in Washington D.C. working as an ESL assistant in Adams Morgan, painting a map on a school playground, reading with young Kindergarten students… Quite simply, I love helping others.

Volunteering is truly “Love in Action”, and back in the Charleston Promise Neighborhood, teachers are getting ready to head into the classroom shortly, and we want to help them succeed.

We want our children to be healthy so they can learn.

Support the children of the Charleston Promise Neighborhood on the Trident United Way Day of Caring, September 9, by volunteering for the Day of Screenings (such as vision and hearing) in CPN schools, or any other community project. There are many to choose from.

We want our children to be strong readers.

Support the successful Book Buddies programs in one of the CPN schools. Second-graders in need of extra support get one-on-one tutoring help to read at grade level by the end of the school year.

We want our children to have extra supports in the classroom.

In the four elementary schools of the Charleston Promise Neighborhood (Mary Ford, Chicora, James Simons, Sanders-Clyde), our families often have extra challenges, like lack of flexible jobs that allow them to volunteer in their child’s school, or transportation barriers to get to the school to volunteer, or lack of daycare for younger children still at home. Therefore, our schools currently have many volunteer needs. We’ll be adding these volunteer job descriptions to our website periodically, and we’re in instituting a “Volunteer Opportunity of the Week” in our eNewsletter. We invite you to check our website often to learn about these opportunities and be part of Charleston Promise Neighborhood’s “Love in Action”.

Thanks for volunteering and YOU may just make new friends, develop new skills, AND enjoy something you love…

Vicky Ingalls