#9 Nursing Home BINGO

Last night I did a very special volunteer opportunity.  I played BINGO with elderly people in a nursing home!  This event was so special because of the look on the residents' faces when we showed up. When volunteering, there may not always be instant feel-good rewards for the good thing you did.  For example, when I volunteered at Second Harvest Food Bank we didn't see the look on the faces of those we were helping.  We had to imagine it.  The nice thing about BINGO with the elderly folks was feeling the immediate excitement from them that people came to spend time with them.  A lot of the residents don't have anyone to come visit them and they are lonely.  It was a complete joy to watch their faces light up when we talked with them and helped them play.

Another reason why this was so special is that my friend, Julie, joined me.  Like me, Julie has a desire to volunteer when she can.  It is so important to have friends that enjoy doing the same things you do.  I met Julie through Sylvan Park Urban Runners, the running club I joined almost a year ago.  Julie has a son that is a few weeks older than E, so we became fast friends in bonding over first-time motherhood while running and trying to get back in shape post-pregnancy.  The funny thing is, Julie was looking through opportunities on Hands On Nashville and sent me a text about playing BINGO at the nursing home and I had literally just signed up for that same event!  Great minds think alike!  I have to say that this was the most fun experience to date just because I had someone to share it with.

Julie getting excited to play some BINGO!

Volunteering with a friend is so much fun!!!

Now onto BINGO...

Volunteers for this event are asked to bring a $1-$2 gift for the winner's table.  I have got to say that the quote "One man's trash is another man's treasure" is a true statement!  You would not believe the knick-knack stuff that people brought that just made the residents so excited to win!  I now know that they are not as big of fans of crossword puzzles and Sudoku like I thought, but LOVE baseball hats, cheap jewelry, and old pens. haha!  Everyone won several times and when the volunteers won, we gave our prize to a resident who may not have won as much as the others.  I gave a hideous glass fish paper-weight to the lady I was helping and she looked at me as if I gave her the most precious thing in the world.  Very sweet! After BINGO, we passed out a plate of treats and soda to the folks.  We then cleaned up and said our goodbyes.  The group that Julie and I played with pretty much begged for us to come back and we both agreed that we would get back when we could--and we meant it!

Our fantastic group

Helping out.  B 4 anyone?

If you live in the Nashville area and are interested in joining in on this fun activity, go to http://www.hon.org/ for more information.  It's at J.B. Knowles Home for the Aged and they play BINGO every third Wednesday of the month.  If you are not in the Nashville area and you would like to do something like this, contact your local nursing home and see if they have anything like this.  Or, better yet, start it if they don't have it.  You will bring so much joy to the people who live there!

Until next time...

Julie with the cutest "couple"!

Getting my BINGO on!

#8 Girl Scout Cookies!!!

I know that you saw the title of this post and thought, "Ayla, really?!" Why, YES! Today I bought Girl Scout Cookies. Why am I going to count this as one of my thirty, you may wonder? Because Girl Scouts need love too! This is a great organization all about teaching girls to grow up into successful, empowered young women. Of course I want to support them!

This good deed is even more of a stretch for me right now than one might think. I'm in the middle of a 24 Day Challenge for health and wellness and Girl Scout Cookies don't quite make the list of suitable foods (shocker!). I did what any woman would do in this situation: I bought the cookies and hid them from my husband so I can enjoy on day 25! ;) I kid, I kid. Well, kind of. I am sharing with B but I threatened his life if he eats all of them. We'll see how seriously he takes my threat. *sigh* If all else fails, I have my Samoas to fall back on since B doesn't like coconut. :)

For more information, go to www.girlscouts.org

#7 Second Harvest Food Bank

Yes, I'm THAT person that has to write their name in all caps, underlined, and three exclamation points.

For number seven of my thirty, I decided to do a volunteer service that I had taken part in before.  A couple of years ago I volunteered to do a food sort at Second Harvest Food Bank.  I loved it!  I worked in the pantry room sorting non-perishables.  I definitely think this kind of volunteering would be more fun to do with a group or at least one other friend because once you start sorting, it's a little chaotic and there's not really time for chit chat to get to know the people you are working with.  I don't mind this that much because it saves this socially awkward person from trying to think of things to say.  However, this food sort was somewhat different than that time two years ago...

So I walk in all excited to sort peanut butter and cereal when the gal in charge informs us that we will be working in the cooler.  Uh...I am not a person who likes to be cold.  It really takes everything within me to go skiing with the hubby because I hate the cold.  I will wear a sweatshirt until it is comfortably 80 degrees outside.  If I had it my way (and millions of dollars to foot the bill), the thermostat in our house would be set at a minimum of 75.  I still don't know how I ever survived in North Dakota.  This all being said, I was not thrilled with working in the cooler.  They offered us gloves, I took two pairs to double up.  They offered us hoodies, I took the unknown article of clothing and put it on over my sweatshirt I was already wearing.  Thank goodness for hoods!  Am I a baby and was I grumbling about this inside my head the whole time we worked?  Absolutely!  haha!  At one point I snuck away to the bathroom just so I could put my hands under the hand dryer. 

The photo of my frozen hands when I snuck off to the restroom to text B

If the cold wasn't bad enough, we were working with meat in the cooler!  I know some of you are laughing right now because you know me and the fact that I am NOT a meat person.  I cannot eat anything on the bone.  I almost gag just taking a boneless chicken breast out of the plastic package and putting it on the George Foreman.  When we buy a rotisserie chicken, I have to have B do all the cutting off the bone.  I have no idea why I am like this but I have always been a little neurotic when it comes to meat.  Sorting meat in the cooler was a little bit of a challenge because of my lack of knowledge of the matter.  I definitely got more than one weird look from the other volunteers when I sheepishly (hehe!) asked what animals certain meats came from or what had bones in it. 

He's a very smart man. :)

Now that I'm done complaining about how much I disliked this volunteer service, let me make some disclaimers.  In no way does my enjoyment (or lack thereof) reflect Second Harvest Food Bank.  When we finished and were thawing out in the warehouse, I was wandering around and saw some signs that made my iciness (man, I'm on a roll!) to the situation thaw a little.  Okay, A LOT!

These signs reminded me why I was there and why I decided to volunteer with them in the first place.  It is devastating that so many Americans suffer from hunger.  It is equally devastating how people who have plenty to eat like myself, take that for granted.  When all the volunteers were called back together, the lady in charge informed us that we had sorted 12,000 pounds of food!!! She said that is enough for over 15,000 meals!  Is that awesome or what?!  I immediately felt guilty for all of my verbal assaults to the cold that had gone on in my mind for the previous two hours.  For 15,000 meals and  providing a bunch of smiles on peoples' faces, it was worth it.  Would I do it again?  You betcha!  I think I would look a little more closely at the availability of the non-perishable room, but I would even work in the cooler again.  I guess what I'm saying is that B was right in his text.  Not all volunteering is super fun, but it will always be worth it.  One of the reasons for me doing the Thirty by 30 is to step out of my comfort zone and try new ways to help others and inspire others that are reading this to do the same.  What is something you thought about doing to help others that you were apprehensive about?  What in the world is holding you back?!  Helping others is always going to make you feel good no matter what you go through to do it.

For more information about Second Harvest Food Bank, go here:

http://www.shfb.org/

Until next time when I'm in a heated room... ;)

#6 Dinner!

When I had E, one thing that really helped me is when some people that B works with brought us dinner. Now I know this is no new gesture, but it was new to me and incredibly appreciated.

This brings me to my #6 good deed for the year. A couple that B works with just had a baby and so we decided to pay it forward. This deed is a little stressful for me because I am not a cook. I'm sure my family and friends would be quick to tell you horror stories of my kitchen adventures. I'm a little ashamed to admit that my husband that sometimes works 80 hours a week, makes dinner a majority of the time. However, I have one recipe that I'm pretty confident in that I adapted from the wonderful Cunningham family: Sour Cream Enchiladas.

These enchiladas were the first thing I ever made for B and won him over, little did he know it was the ONLY thing I could make outside of grilled cheese sandwiches. Ha! Poor guy!

This is another one of those things that anyone could do no matter where you live to help someone out. Know someone who had a baby? Make them enchiladas! Someone's been sick? Try out a casserole recipe. Just to be on the safe side, ask for any dietary restrictions, just in case. :)

Who do you know that you can help out in this way?

# 5 Manuary--Beards for Babies

My husband is in his medical residency at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and every year they hold a fundraiser they named "Beards for Babies". It is more affectionately called "Manuary". For the last three years, B and his co-workers have grown out their facial hair for Manuary. I often remind my husband that I'm the best wife ever because I let him marry me during Manuary. Let's just say that the kind of beards they grow don't make for very good wedding photos. Ha! Since my husband is an over achiever, he has been starting the beard-growing in November to get the most gnarly facial hair for someone to mess with. What happens is these beards get auctioned off to the highest bidder and the winner gets to decide how the beard (sometimes other hair as seen in the *gag* pictures) can be shaved and decorated.  My husband's beard got bought by an attending who must like Wolverine.  His before and after photos are below.  He and I tag-teamed the taping of the butter knives in an easy to grab fashion.  Not an easy task.  I told him he wasn't allowed to walk into the bar that way.  haha!  I can only imagine the news report:  "Local pediatrician dressed as Wolverine with knives walks into a crowded downtown hang out.  More on this story at 10."  It would have made for an interesting story! :)

 

After the auction, there is a special outing to a bar downtown.  Now this isn't an out-of-the-way, no-one-will-see type place.  In fact, Manuary was scheduled for the night before but the bar had to back out of our reservation because the cast of "Nashville" bought the whole place out for the night.  You can see below the pictures of some of the beards.  Needless to say, the mankini won and I may never be able to look at Alex without my mouth filling with vomit ever again. Ha!  For the record, that is his real hair that he dyed darker for visual effect.

 

This brings me to #5 of my 30 by Thirty.  I bought a beard!  Unfortunately, the guy whose beard I bought was on call last night so no photos.  B and I are still trying to decide what we want Matt to do to his beard...any suggestions?  Hopefully, I can get his wife to take some before and after photos to share later.

This year's Beards for Babies fundraiser went to benefit Asthma Camp.  B got to work at Asthma Camp last summer and talked on and on about how fun it was.  He would have to pack different changes of clothes for the day because he could be playing football or going swimming.  It would be hard to hate your job if you got to do this kind of stuff!  Here is the link for Asthma Camp for more information:

http://www.millerharrisfoundation.org/asthma-camp-for-kids.html

Here is what their website says about the five day camp:

This unique, five-day summer camp experience includes:

• On-site medical supervision by teams of volunteer physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists is provided to help monitor the campers and teach them how to better manage their asthma with daily educational sessions.
• Camp activity staff, expertly oriented to meet the specialized needs of children with asthma, coordinates a program that includes arts and crafts, archery, hiking, games, swimming, and more.
• Campers will optimize their abilities, have fun, and learn while meeting new friends, creating lasting memories and just being a kid

Pretty cool, right?!  B wanted me to put a little information in here about asthma so here it is.  Asthma is a lung disease that can affect anyone.  It doesn't matter what your age is.  There is no cure for asthma but it can be managed with things like medication and inhalers.  According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC), there are 7.1 million children in the U.S. that have asthma!  Isn't that shocking? In 2010, there were 3,404 deaths (children and adults) caused by asthma.  For more astounding facts and information, check out my sources:

http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/asthma/

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/asthma.htm

Asthma can be serious business.  If you or someone you know deals with this disease, it would be wise to learn more about it.  Familiarize yourself with what to do in the event of an asthma attack or how to help prevent asthma.

Manuary is a fun thing that anyone can do for any charity.  What charity could your work place or church support in this fun way?

Hope you enjoyed!!!