Since I have stopped working I have been looking for meaningful ways to help out in the community. My last venture into the volunteer world did not go so well. I was going to participate in the Share-A-Pet project where you bring your pet to visit with the sick and elderly at various health care facilities.  DeeJay, our eight year old Cock-a-Poo, just wasn’t up to the task and my doctor didn’t like the idea of me being exposed to people who were ill.  I know the dog and I both would have enjoyed it, but I guess it was not meant to be.

Now my husband and I are going to try a different type of volunteering. We will be working to elect a judicial candidate who is a member of our extended family. The election is in November so we have almost the whole year to help. My husband and I believe that it will be beneficial for us both. We can put our communication and interpersonal skills to a good use, plus make some new friends. The additional benefit is that our son will be able to earn community service credit for helping in the campaign so it will be a winning situation for the whole family. Maybe we can even have DeeJay wear a campaign bandana. With his cuteness factor going for us, we surely will win over a lot of voters.

Our first meeting is next week. We will get to select how involved we want to be, what tasks we would like to perform and how much time we are able to devote to this endeavor. Hopefully this will be a good use of our time and skills, give our son a hands on experience with government in action and help us all understand the political process a little better.