Catch the Spirit of Volunteering

The last six weeks of the year is a time when people who feel blessed in life typically give back to their communities.  In the spirit of the holidays, people volunteer at food banks or work with those who are less fortunate.  

At United Way, we decided to ask our employees and community members to share, in their own words, a memorable volunteer experience they’ve had.  Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing some of them here in the blog.   The first story comes from Aditi Aggarwarl, Volunteer Manager at United Way:

Aditi with Kinmaya, then 6 months old. The baby has since been adopted by a family in Sweden.

“Born and brought up in India, a country where nearly half of the population is illiterate, poverty stricken or unemployed, I came to realize the importance of volunteerism after my experience at Shreevatsa.  It is a well-respected child-care center and orphanage that has provided homes to orphans ranging from newborns to six-year-olds. Many of the children are placed with adoptive families in India and overseas. A number of children are physically and mentally challenged, and a growing number are afflicted by life-threatening ailments.

I was 20 years old, pursuing my legal career in Pune, when I started to visit this orphanage as a volunteer.  Although I signed up to volunteer only once a month, within two weeks I found myself becoming a regular volunteer and visitor.   In addition to being an important formative role for my professional aspirations and plans for the future, my experiences as a volunteer have also affected me from a moral standpoint.    I gained a sense of satisfaction knowing I made a difference in a child’s life just by being part of it as a volunteer.”