Volunteering

There are many different reasons for you to start volunteering:

• To help others
• To learn more about this organization
• To beat boredom (if you find yourself sitting around the house feeling totally bored, volunteering in an activity you enjoy can be a great way to change things)
• To overcome a loss you have experienced (one of the best ways to help yourself in a time of loss is to help others)
• To gain perspective on life (there is no better way to understand your blessings than to help people in need)

Your reasons for volunteering are as individual as you are, but no matter what your reasons you can get a lot out of volunteering. You can learn about yourself, learn about others and meet a lot of interesting people by volunteering. You can help others as you help yourself. Why should you volunteer? Volunteers receive public acknowledgement of their contributions?.. Frank Piccino provided the Epilepsy Foundation of Northeast NY with valuable technical assistance this past winter. He updated computers, reconfigured settings to make them more efficient and offered advice about how to safeguard our computer information. The volunteer assistance would have cost the Foundation hundreds of dollars. The Epilepsy Foundation of Northeast NY is grateful for the help that Frank provided. Frank works as a senior programmer/analyst for NYS Department of Health. He says that the reason that he volunteered is that it was a way to share his expertise and help a worthy cause. " I knew that as I was helping, I was also learning. I would recommend it to anyone who is considering volunteering." This is just one example of volunteering at the Foundation. As a non-profit organization we rely on volunteers for many roles and activities. In future newsletters we will continue to provide you , the Epilepsy community, with interesting opportunities to volunteer your time and talents. These are our current needs:

• Clerical help with copying and filing
• Research and typing to update our list of medical providers in the 19 county area
• Occasional help with data entry and large mailings
• Bowlers are needed for the annual "Bowl for Epilepsy"
• Volunteers are needed to assist with special events and fundraisers such as serving on committees, making phone calls to solicit items for auctions, etc.
• Individuals are needed to join a grassroots advocacy network