We Are Family

How do you get your butt out of bed early on a Saturday morning even though you are still on CA time, meet some really cool people, help Alex conquer his fear of older people (translate: growing up), get a decent workout, and see new parts in DC all in one? You volunteer.

Last night Alex got an email from We Are Family, a volunteer organization that he helped out a few years ago with his staff. We Are Family is group started by seniors citizens and now run by one employee and a volunteers who deliver groceries, help seniors with housing issues, provide transportation, go on house visits, and more.


This morning, Alex and I joined around 20 volunteers to assemble and delivere 200+ bags of groceries for senior citizens throughout DC on a sweltering, humid day. The people we delivered groceries to were appreciative (except for the woman who pouted when Alex would not give her an extra bag) and I met my first 100 year-old person. The diverse group of volunteers I met were also great-- my favorite being the 7 year-old who helped load the bags with soup. There was something really cool about the fact that by the end of the 4-hours working together, we were all giving each other hugs and waving goodbye. Everyone was just so nice.

I really miss doing volunteer work. Amongst one of the many things that I wish Obama would do is encourage more service. I am a proponent for compulsory community service hours during high school, but that is a whole different blog post. I volunteered for hundreds of hours in high school (and no, not just for college apps) and then kind of dropped the ball during college and law school. I did things here and there, including Habitat for Humanity with Alex before we started dating (the paint fumes won me over) and my law school's legal clinic, but nothing regular.

So I am making a resolution, at least one volunteer activity a month. I think that is realistic with my work schedule and everything else "fun" that I have been wanting to do post-law school.