The CragBaby

Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit retailer focused on fair trade, providing a pre-paid fair compensation to their artisans for merchandise received. I have spent many hours volunteering with this group and want to help promote a climbing related event they have coming up within the next week.

I will be unable to attend this event as I am currently based in Kentucky.  But if any of you readers do attend, please list up your thoughts here in the comments.

I strive to volunteer on a weekly basis but am looking for some new volunteer opportunities. The places with which I currently affiliate my time include:

ARUP – I like to donate platelets on a bi-weekly basis, albeit I feel well. This is my favorite volunteer service because by sitting and watching a movie, I can directly impact a life. I choose to donate through ARUP because all donations are used at the local hospitals and very rarely do they receive enough donations to fulfill demand.

Climbing – During the summer I like to donate a climbing day a week to taking out climbing newbies. I do this because I used to be one of those newbies who couldn’t find a partner. And it sucks. By taking them out I can still have a beautiful day in the outdoors, teach proper safety techniques (keeping the climbing community safe) and allow someone else to enjoy the sport I love.

KCPW – I volunteer often during the KCPW pledge drives. KCPW is Salt Lake’s independent national public radio station (that barely escaped from being turned into a Christin station. Thank you again KCPW board members). I really love the programming, the KCPW crew and the point that they brought the BBC to its own frequency so that listeners could have BBC news 24/7. This volunteer opportunity is only on a semi-annual basis.

Ten Thousand Villages – I used to volunteer weekly with Ten Thousand Villages but have now put this on the back burner. I still really like the organization, but didn’t feel completely needed when I was there. I felt as if I didn’t show, the job would still get done… so why not spend my time elsewhere?

I have also looked into working with the Literacy Center of Utah, but have not started on with them as I just think the time commitment is too much for me to take on right now. I have also looked into NAMI (the National Alliance of Mental Illness). I was so jazzed when I found NAMI because I feel like mental illness is a prevalent disease that many people do not understand and I was hoping I could help with social awareness. I was so psyched for their cause I offered a year of my time, but they just didn’t know what to do with me. Thought their cause is good, at the time that I talked with them they seemed to still figure out how to operate, so I stepped away.

I would love to hear where you readers affiliate your volunteer time and why. I am looking for something that I love as much as platelet donation. Some form of service that is really needed and appreciated.

I strive to volunteer on a weekly basis but am looking for some new volunteer opportunities. The places with which I currently affiliate my time include:

ARUP – I like to donate platelets on a bi-weekly basis, albeit I feel well. This is my favorite volunteer service because by sitting and watching a movie, I can directly impact a life. I choose to donate through ARUP because all donations are used at the local hospitals and very rarely do they receive enough donations to fulfill demand.

Climbing – During the summer I like to donate a climbing day to taking out climbing newbies. I do this because I used to be one of those newbies who couldn’t find a partner. And it sucks. By taking them out I can still have a beautiful day in the outdoors, teach proper safety techniques (keeping the climbing community safe) and allow someone else to enjoy the sport I love.

KCPW – I volunteer often during the KCPW pledge drives. KCPW is Salt Lake’s independent national public radio station (that barely escaped from being turned into a Christin station. Thank you again KCPW board members). I really love the programming, the KCPW crew and the point that they brought the BBC to its own frequency so that listeners could have BBC news 24/7. This volunteer opportunity is only on a semi-annual basis.

Ten Thousand Villages – I used to volunteer weekly with Ten Thousand Villages but have now put this on the back burner. I still really like the organization, but didn’t feel completely needed when I was there. I felt as if I didn’t show, the job would still get done… so why not spend my time elsewhere?

I have also looked into working with the Literacy Center of Utah, but have not started on with them as I just think the time commitment is too much for me to take on right now. I have also looked into NAMI (the National Alliance of Mental Illness). I was so jazzed when I found NAMI because I feel like mental illness is a prevalent disease that many people do not understand and I was hoping I could help with social awareness. I was so psyched for their cause I offered a year of my time, but they just didn’t know what to do with me. Thought their cause is good, at the time that I talked with them they seemed to still figure out how to operate, so I stepped away.

I would love to hear where you readers affiliate your volunteer time and why. I am looking for something that I love as much as platelet donation. Some form of service that is really needed and appreciated.

I just noticed that Utahblood.org has a new website and it is REAL cool!

• They have added a new logo which is a fantastic representation of who they are and what they do
• On the homepage they list the current needs for whole blood and platelets, plus the current blood drives
• There is now a Weekly Patient List link page that breaks down what type of blood and how many units are used weekly
• They have started a punch card where you get a punch every time you donate, that can be turned in for schwag with their logo. Plus they have giveaways to incentivize people to come in and donate
• They have a Blood Blog that will let donors know who they are helping, while still protecting the privacy of the patient.

What a fantastic site! Check it out!

I strive to volunteer once per week and lately have been searching for new volunteer opportunities that are more serious in nature and have stronger impacts. My latest find, which I have blogged about a little in the past, is donating platelets at ARUP. I really like this opportunity because the ARUP donations are used locally and current demand in certain blood types, one of which is mine, outweighs supply.

So far I have only been able to donate platelets once because in order to give one has to be perfectly healthy, and lately I seem to continually have a cold. However, I have an appointment again next week and am stoking up on the vitamin C in preparation.

Platelet donation is an odd volunteer experience in comparison to what I usually do because for an hour and a half there is a needle in my arm and I do experience some side effects during the process (being chilled from the blood re-entering at a cooler degree in comparison to the body and having my lips tingle from what I believe they said was a loss of calcium). But just knowing that a local person is using my platelets to continue living is an awesome feeling. Plus, what other volunteer experience requires you to sit, eat snacks and watch a movie. =)

I tried to donate platelets (the cells that assist in coagulation) today after work, but was unable to due to an iron deficiency (most likely because I don’t particularly like to eat meat). I have to wait two weeks before I can try to donate again.

I have blogged before that I like to donate blood because it is the easiest form of service (I just have to sit there and squeeze a little rubber ball) and the impact directly affects a life. I thought I would donate platelets this time for a number of reasons: there is currently a greater need for A+ platelets than whole blood at the donor center, platelets have a shorter shelf life than whole blood, and due to the fact that the blood center allows more platelet donations in comparison to whole blood because the body replaces platelets within a short period of time (replaced within 72 hours, meaning I can donate / volunteer more often). In fact, platelets can be donated 24 times per year in comparison to whole blood that can only be given every 56 days. The only downside to platelet donation is the apheresis procedure takes one and half hours, in comparison to the half hour of blood donation, because the blood is withdrawn, spun in a centrifuge and everything but the platelets and a little plasma is returned to the donor.

There is a constant need for whole blood and platelets. If interested in donating in the Salt Lake area, visit the ARUP donor website. If located within the U.S., visit the RedCross. Or, register at USBloodDonors.org and a local blood center will call you when your blood type is particularly needed.

The semi-annual KCPW Pledge drive is underway. Please take the time to pledge your support by calling 801-359-5279 or visiting their site. Being a phone volunteer for this event is actually one of my favorite volunteer opportunities due to the interesting people involved with the drive. If interested in volunteering in the future, fill out this form.

Anya Hindmarch created a bag that has seen wild success, selling out in London and in America. And according to the website, “Due to the unprecedented demand for I’m Not A Plastic Bag in South East Asia and our concerns for our customers safety we will be cancelling the launches at the following stores: Anya Hindmarch Beijing, On Pedder in Shanghai and On Pedder in Jakarta.”

I have seen the story in the news and wanted to congratulate the entrepreneur for her success with the launch of this product. I have also had friends mention the desire for this particular bag and actually saw a variety of, what I thought, were cool comparables at the local Ten Thousand Villages store. Check out the alternatives that provide the same utility, added social benefit of fair trade plus allow you to have a different bag than the thousands of English and Americans. =) Ten Thousand Villages new address is 1941 South 1100 East with the grand opening happening today.

I apologize to any readers that follow both my blogs. I have started implementing trackback posts if I want readers to read a post on my other blog. However, I felt like the subject of this entry was so cool that I wanted to re-post.

I stumbled upon the great site of Tom’s Shoes due to a post on the Lifehacker blog. Tom’s Shoes, a company founded by Blake Mycoskie, focuses on addressing poverty and health issues by donating a pair of shoes to a child in need for each pair of shoes purchased.

The concept was conceived as Blake was traveling through poor villages in Argentina and realized that he could create a difference by establishing a shoe company. He decided to fashion the shoe after the local alpargatas but with bold colors and artistic styles. He spent two months seeking Argentina fabric and shoe makers and debuted a collection of 15 styles in June 2006. By fall of 2006 he had sold 10,000 pairs of shoes and gave away 10,000 pairs with a handful of volunteers alongside 2,200 miles of Argentinan countryside.

As of February of this year the self-financed company had orders from 300 stores and was turning a profit. On top of that, 240 customers had offered to pay to go volunteer resulting in Mycoskie starting to create a sister company that will offer $2,000 vacations consisting of two days of sightseeing and 4 days of volunteering.

At the beginning of this year I organized an event for a local non-profit. The experience was invaluable and I greatly appreciated the opportunity; however, after that event I went on a two month hiatus from volunteering. I was burnt out and a little cranky with the non-profit model.

This past Sunday I ended my volunteering hiatus and have returned to my typical schedule of volunteering once per week. I believe the two month break was a good idea as this past week’s experience was completely refreshing.