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Give Yourself Anitra Lyman, a twenty-five-year-old mother of two, took some time this year to help a cause near to her heart. Standing in the cold outside the Arnot Mall in Horseheads, New York, she greeted each person with a warm smile and a hearty “Happy She knows first-hand just how important donations of time and resources can be. A few years ago, Salvation Army helped her and her two small children move out of a shelter by helping her with her first month’s rent and giving her children warm clothes. In October, Lyman made a new start, after her five-year-old daughter’s father was shot last year near her hometown of Rochester. “I didn’t want my children to grow up in that environment,” she said. With that in mind, she and her boyfriend of one-and-a-half years uprooted, leaving school, jobs, and family to move to Elmira with hopes of a brighter future. “I have a good job with good benefits now, and don’t have to worry about my kids getting hurt at school. Best of all, I can continue my education at EBI [Elmira Business Institute] and give back to those who’ve helped me along the way.” With two children, ages five and seven, and a full-time job, Lyman is sacrificing her little bit of free time in an effort to help those in need. Community members who would like to follow suit have a variety of options from which to choose, including those with local Salvation Army, United Way, Catholic Charities, Meals-on-Wheels, RSVP through Senior Corps., VA Hospitals and other medical organizations, and various food banks and distribution centers, to name a few. Donna Keegan, director of Marketing and Communications for the United Way of the Southern Tier, said “most agencies in the area relay heavily on volunteers to help make programs successful.” Like Lyman, Keegan sees a direct link between her choice to get involved and her past. “Back in the flood of ‘72,” she reminisced, “I saw just what volunteers mean to a community. People came from all over to help us.” A doll, given to her that Christmas, represents volunteering’s importance. “I’ll never get rid of that doll,” she said. “It reminds me of all of the help those people gave us, and it reminds me how important it is to give back.” The United Way uses their more than 500 volunteers to do everything from raising money for local agencies, to stuffing envelopes, to making investment decisions for the organization. Each year they raise more than four million dollars, with the understanding that they have a “great responsibility to allocate it in a way that makes the community a better place to live for everyone.” Volunteers even help decide where that money goes, forming teams to sort through agency applications to find those that meet all of United Way’s criteria to receive aid. Violet Wilson of Tioga, Pennsylvania, has been a member of one of the teams, “Our Family, Our Selves” for about four years. “It’s a lot of work but it’s so important,” she said. “The agencies we interview are family-based, and we make sure that funding is going to the ones that need the help the most. It has been a great learning experience for me.” Besides utilizing volunteers, the organization also helps place individuals with nonprofits that need assistance during the year. “Our Web site lists a variety of volunteer opportunities throughout the community,” said Keegan. “We want everyone to know what’s out there, because no matter how little you may think you have, there is someone so much worse off that needs your help.” The “Holiday Caring 2007” section on their site lists agencies that need volunteers, donations, and help fundraising for special programs during the holidays. This list includes contact information for Corning Meals on Wheels, Elmira Community Kitchen, Family Service Society, and others. The Salvation Army works with the United Way and independently to find volunteers for a number of programs, including visiting nursing homes, packing food baskets and getting gifts for underprivileged children. The Elmira Salvation Army’s Major Aubrey Stephens said volunteers will accompany a local church choir to nursing homes; while the choir hosts sing-alongs, volunteers will visit with someone who might not get visitors at the holidays. These visits give residents something to look forward to every year, and let the volunteers see first-hand just how much their time donations mean to people in the community. Volunteer are also needed to ring bells to collect money and to use that money to prepare food baskets and Christmas gifts for more than 400 families in need. Those who don’t necessarily have the time to pack food baskets or deliver gifts can “adopt” a child by finding an Angel Tree (visit any local Salvation Army) and picking a child to buy a gift for. The Food Bank of the Southern Tier, a warehouse distribution center that works closely with regional agencies, packaages many of the food baskets. It distributed more than five million pounds of food last year to agencies who then used it to help more than 9,000 people every week. “We turn monetary donations into food,” said Meghan Parsons, the Food Bank’s Community and Public Relation Manager. “We buy bulk food with the donation collected throughout the year and repackage it in our warehouse before sending it out to our 180 agency partners (like soup kitchens and food pantries), and sending it home with needy children on the weekends through their schools.” This repackaging is a fantastic opportunity for those looking for a behind-the-scenes volunteer work. Volunteers can also collect money at their offices or in their communities. Those who would like to be more directly involved with the repurposing process can volunteer at their mobile food pantry, which “distributes food directly to those in need in areas that don’t have other means of getting food to them.” Lyman said, “If I’m ever rich, there won’t be any homeless people. I’ll just build a huge mansion and they can live with me. ‘Til then, I’ll do what I can to help.” Use these links below to find opportunities in your area:United Way Salvation Army Catholic Charities RSVP VA Hospitals Meals on Wheels Food Bank |
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Holidays!” as she rang her Salvation Army bell.s. “This money goes to people in need,” she said. “We should help each other as much as we can. Personally, I sleep better at night knowing that I’m helping someone that really needs it.” 
