Building Community

Meal Trains for Families with Newborns

At our church, I coordinate meal trains for families with newborn babies. When my husband and I first moved into our neighborhood, we had no friends and family. When our first son was born, our neighbors brought us food and we were very touched. My husband and I wanted to replicate this, and I thought of the idea of coordinating meal trains for and by parishioners in our parish. It isn't much work on my part-- I use the website mealtrain.com to organize the volunteers and timing of the meals, and I advertise in our weekly bulletin asking for volunteers!

Financial Peace University Coordinator

Also at our church, I coordinate Financial Peace University courses. I find a lot of joy in helping others learn good money habits that include budgeting and general personal finance planning.  The course is 9 weeks long, and a 2-3 hr/ week commitment on my part. Totally doable with the amount of free time I have. If you'd like to learn more about this, take a look at my Personal Finance section!

Summer Club - Swim Lesson and Adult Swim Program

We are members at a swim & racquet club in our neighborhood. The first year we were members, I was disappointed at the amount of adult swim time. The next year, I took things into my own hands and was given permission to run an Adult Swim Program, with set lap swim times and instruction for adults who may need some help with technique. In doing so, I also found out that my help was needed to shape the future of the swim lesson programs for the kids. I happily said I'd help, and I know that this will ultimately benefit my own children in the future too! I love that I'm able to use my random skills that I've picked up during my life (competitive swimmer, swim instructor) to be able to help out (and also fill volunteer hours so that my husband doesn't have to do extra yard work there!)