Thursday

Mandatory volunteering

I do more volunteering than most people do. Yes, there are those who do more, but I'm on the top half of the scale. As I type this I am sitting at my kids school "volunteering".

Each family is required to do a certain number of hours or pay some fines in the Spring. This is of course on top of tuition. So sitting at the reception desk for a few hours once a week won't kill me, and if it helps give the regular receptionist time off that is OK.

Last week I was working on the school's big fundraiser. They end up selling $20k worth of garbage from people's garages. Every family has to put in seven hours. And it's OK. This year I was on setup/breakdown crew. Lots of carrying stuff. Nothing a few Alleve and a muscle relaxer can't cure. Many of the people who were working there had been doing it for many years. And there seems to be a regular crew, which I'll be a part of during these next ten years. Someone said that the penalty for not working thus particular event is too light. At only $100 it isn't penalizing enough. The work would be way easier if there were more volunteers.

If the penalty was $300-500 no one would want to send in the check. They would bite the bullet and work a few hours. No one would have to work a full shift, it benefits everyone. People are busy, I know that but it's not fair to the parents that make the time.

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