I have a friend, a fellow spiritual seeker, who seems perpetually amazed at the volunteer work I do. Being a volunteer is an obligation that was instilled in me at an early age and something that I’ve continued to feel is vitally important. Call it compassion, paying it forward, or what have you… it’s simply essential that I do it.
On Saturday, I attended a fund raiser banquet for a local hospital’s cardiac rehab department. It’s the department that heart/vascular patients use as outpatient recovery to instill good exercise and healthy living techniques. After having someone dear to me need that resource twice, it’s been an high priority for me to give back to them.
Today, I trekked down to Ohio to volunteer and participate at the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery for the “Free Pancake Day” benefiting Give Kids the World, a non-profit organization in Florida that helps to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses. GKTW hosts families for a week’s stay in the Orlando area, giving them free access to the Disney, Universal, and Sea World parks in addition to magical experiences at the GKTW Village. Like with the banquet on Saturday, my family was directly impacted by the goodness of GKTW as my brother had been a youth with a life-threatening illness (caner). It doesn’t matter that his most recent Wish had been two decades or that he’s since passed away. GKTW made those visits to Florida amazing. I feel its important for me to continue to be involved with the organization, to create magical moments for all the children in dire health who need that wonder now.
Tomorrow night after work, it’s back to the food pantry where I stock/maintain shelves on a weekly basis.
It’s all good! 
-Spark