KIRSTEN LUPINSKI: Thanksgiving and giving back

When I wrote the word Thanksgiving, I, too, had a hard time believing that it was November and holiday season was upon us. I was going to dedicate my November and December columns to some holiday recipes and how to “lighten up” this time of the year, but I decided to save that until after the new year. I want to change pace a little and talk about how we can all give to others during this time of the year.

Thanksgiving is a time for us to reflect upon what we are thankful for and when we honestly start to think about this, a ton of things can come to my mind. The health of my family, the ability to have a nutritious meal on my table each night (well, nutritious most nights), the quality of education that my kids receive, the wonderful family and friends that we have and so much more.

Well, not everyone is as fortunate as many of us are. Therefore, I wanted to take the time at this particular time of the year to show you the many ways you can give back to your community, and what a great time to start thinking about this.

Albany offers you many volunteer opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others in our community. Volunteering not only allows you to assist and help others, but it provides you with so many positive and rewarding outcomes — make important networking connections, meet new people, develop new skills, gain experience, improve your self-esteem, improve your overall health and many others.

Now, how do you get started?

I am sure you have all heard of the United Way. This is an umbrella organization that has the ability to find a place for you. They have countless volunteers who give their time and talents to a variety of different organizations around the area. If you go to their website (http://www.unitedwayswga.org/volunteer) you will find information on how to volunteer, where to volunteer, and a link to fill out an application. They will be able to link you to a volunteer opportunity that fits your skills, location, time, and interests.

However there are many other organizations that are always looking for volunteers and I want to highlight a few of these this month and next. I highly encourage you to take some time to look at these and see if you have the time to give back, an hour or two a week to assist others.

I am going to start with Strive 2 Thrive, an organization with the mission of providing a hand-up, not a handout. They provide families with assistance to move from poverty to self-sufficiency and are always looking for volunteers to work in a variety of different capacities. Take a look at their volunteer page (http://strive2thrive.org/serve) to find ways to help. There are opportunities to teach classes to program participants, become a coach to a family, work with the youth program, or a variety of other special projects.

This is just a start to how you can become involved in the Greater Albany community. Check back next month for information on other organizations looking for volunteers. Thanks so much for giving this a thought at this time of thankfulness.

Kirsten Lupinski is an assistant professor at Albany State University in the Department of Health and Human Performance. She has a bachelor’s of science in nutrition from the University of North Carolina, a master’s of science in health education from the University of Kentucky and a doctorate in education from the University of Cincinnati. She has worked in the health education field in various capacities (corporate health, community health, college health and wellness and university education) for more than 17 years. She and her husband have three young children (twin boys and a girl).