rechelle's lifelyrics

I have a confession to make: I am an accidental volunteer. 

I’ve been volunteering for one organization or another for over 25 years.

It all started when I was homeschooling my kids and decided to join Community Home Education Program (CHEP) in Southern California. I had been teaching my kids at home for 4 1/2 years when I enrolled our family at the Orange County charter school. After getting to know our assigned teacher, and turning in monthly work samples for each child, each subject, each month for several months, our teacher asked me to speak at the new parent orientation on the subject of staying “on top of everything” within this lifestyle. I wrote a speech entitled “Use Your Tools,” and, because of overwhelming positive feedback from the new parents in attendance, I was asked back to speak each year until we moved to Oregon 5 years later.

I began to get to know other parents who struggled with the administrative side of providing school for their kids. I started providing free workshops at CHEP to teach parents how to be organized, and use the applications on their computers to assist with the recordkeeping and planning that was required.

A few years later, I learned about a free music program for kids in Corona, California (where we lived). The only caveat was that parents were required to give 10 hours of volunteer work a month per enrolled child in the Kids Rock Free program. That meant I would give 40 hours per month so that my 4 kids could have music lessons. I learned how to research and write grants during my time volunteering in the office, and built several skills I would draw on after we moved to Oregon many years following that season of our lives.

When we moved to Oregon 15 years ago, I knew nothing about the Grange as an organization – only that our church was meeting at a building called “the Grange.” It took me several years to understand what the Grange is all about, and how many ways being a part of a Grange can benefit the community. It took even more years for me to realize the unintended benefits I received in the process of volunteering. The skills that I grew through my work in each nonprofit organization opened up new paths for me in ways that I never expected. It actually helped me build a small career after being out of the workforce for the 20 years that I was homeschooling my kids!

It’s a lot like putting seeds in the ground, watering the dirt, and then beholding the beautiful life that begins to spring up out of the soil. Every time I tell people I’m retired, I’m still in awe at the career I started at age 50, and the resulting pension I can enjoy for the rest of my life!