Salute to Spouses Blog

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Volunteering May Kill Me

I know, it sounds dramatic. The thing is, though, I have a bit of a problem: I can’t say no.

Now please, don’t misunderstand. There is a significant amount of time that I am known as “that mean chick” or “that really loud blonde over there”. But at the end of the day, I have this drive to help people … even if it means that my own schedule takes a serious beating.

It was a bit of a deluge, really. First it was the need for a company Family Readiness Group (FRG) leader. Our unit is a bit of a specialized one, which means that traditional civilian roles aren’t necessarily something that come with the package. We are not so different, though, that we do not have soldiers and family members who deserve to know silly things like who-what-when-and-where. So I became the who-what-when-where meeting person. Turns out, there are a lot of duties and responsibilities when you’re that person. Sigh.

Next, the Army did away with the Family Readiness Support Assistant (FRSA) position. The FRSA for most units were superheroes. They maintained contacts and networking information for every group/company/organization that wants to donate goods or time or money or services to military personnel and their families. Until the position was nixed, I worked hand in hand with the FRSA, and was able to use her networking prowess to secure great and wonderful things for my company.

Unfortunately, without the FRSA’s help, I’m a bit like a blindfolded toddler in a knife factory. There are memos and regulations and legal audits (oh my), and a misstep in any of those categories can put a lot of people in some very hot water.

The moral (dilemma?) of this super whiny story is that my full course load starts in five days, and I won’t have the freedom to drop what I’m doing to organize and complete a Sno-Cone sale, and then co-host a school supply giveaway the following morning. Not without my grades suffering, anyway.

Anyone else in over their head in the Olympic sized volunteer pool willing to give some advice?

I sure could use it.

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