The “Pros” of Volunteering

As advertised, every penny from our Quilts Etc Sale goes to two ministries at First United Methodist Church–the TV ministry and the Religious Nurture Center for disabled adults. I was explaining this to an out-of-state friend and they ask about the cost of supplies–donated! The hours and hours spent sewing and quilting–donated! I thought about this as I prepared my part for a panel on volunteering next month. Why do I do this? What do I get out of this? I came up with four good reasons to donate your time or to volunteer

1. Meet new people and really get to know acquaintances. In our quilting group, we have three members who are not members of FUMC. I would have never known these women, if it had not been for this group. The hand quilting group is mostly women a bit older–in another Church Class. I recognized their faces, but now we are friends. At my Open Door Food Ministry “job” I have made great friends that I would have missed if I had not volunteered here.
2. Volunteering helps create a schedule in a retirees life. Too often, I hear my fellow retirees say. “What day is this–Monday or Tuesday?” I have two days in my week that I volunteer–Monday and Wednesday. So those days plus Sunday become focal points to my week. Days devoted to volunteering also encourages me not to waste my “off” days.
3. Volunteering has resulted in me learning new skills. Quilters love to share tips and tricks of the trade. New tools are introduced and shared. But I have also sharpened my computer skills from being a part of Quilters at First. I had to learn to blog and to post images on social media if we wanted our quilts to be purchased by folks outside of the church. Never ever would I have learned to edit a photo, if not for wanting to increase our buying public.

4. Volunteering is great for my mental health. We have a sign in our quilting room that “quilting is cheaper than therapy”. I am not sure that is true–have you priced a yard of fabric at a quilt store? But, what is shared in the four walls of the quilting room, stays there! Plus, the feeling of satisfaction and pride that comes from creating a quilt is wonderful. And no matter how many mistakes and boo-boos you know is in your quilt, your fellow quilters will look at the big picture and offer praise and point out the positive selling points.

All the profits help two very important programs of FUMC that reach out into the community. Most of the adults that come to RNC are not members of FUMC and probably never will be, but Wednesday evenings are very important in their lives. The TV ministry reaches out all to thousands of viewers. Many of these viewers can not attend a church, most will not contribute financially, but for forty years plus, FUMC has been “church” on Sunday morning. During Covid, I grew to really appreciate the TV ministry. I was connected to “my church”, even though the world had shut down.

I know that there are people who could easily write a check that equals our donation. But the Quilts Etc Sale is an opportunity for quilters and shoppers to contribute in small and large ways to these two ministries. Being creative and helping others are big mental health boosters!

So what did we use our hands for this week?

This quilt reminds me of a beautiful tile floor in a grand church–the colors and the pattern.

Each block is the same pattern but the fabric color variations is what grabs our attention. It is 84″ x 84″–perfect for a double bed. It is machine quilted on a cotton/polyester batting and hand bound.

Sooooo cute! This 49″ x 59″ toddler quilt is so cuddly with Minky on the back. The happy animals are machine appliquéd and it is machine quilted. The machine quilting is widely spaced to add to the “cuddle aspect”. It is washable and hand bound with the orange Minky.

What a super surprise gift for some little one. $150

Fall is here with Halloween not too far off–

Are you a little “batty”—I believe these are very friendly bats and they would like to visit you home. The table runner is 18″ x 44″, machine quilted and hand bound. $40

We have more pumpkins—

The latest to arrive are black velveteen timmed in silver. They provide a nice contrast to their orange cousins.

Can you guess what these are used for?

They are playing card holders—for very small hands playing UNO or for hands suffering with arthritis. A very clever idea and would make a great stocking stuffer.

Three weeks from today and we will be in Wilkes Family Life Center offering hundreds of treasures for your shopping pleasure!!! Hope it is on your calendar.

I am probably “preaching to the choir”—but I hope you have found an opportunity to experience the joy of volunteering.