Painting doors

I had the most amazing day at work yesterday - by far. It wasn't a great day because I got to leave my hole in the wall cubical at 11:30 a.m. or because I walked out of my building into an amazing afternoon. It was a great day because I painted doors.

The company I work for is a strong supporter of serving the community and the United Way Foundation. As such, we are given 4 hours of "VTO" (volunteer time off) each year to help a United Way agency on top of 8 hours of VTO we can use to volunteer for any organization.

Yesterday was the United Way Day of Caring, and I spent the afternoon at LINK Associates. LINK provides services to the mentally handicapped including life skills day classes, technical training, recreational activities, in-home help for those with handicapped children and group home arrangements.

At the last minute they needed volunteers to help at the administration offices - rather than at one of their 13 group home locations. I didn't care where I helped so I offered to help at the offices. It was a great decision. As I stood in the hallway painting doors white, countless handicapped "consumers" using LINKs services that day stopped to say thank you or to tell me I was doing a great job.

It wouldn’t have been near as rewarding had I been at one of the houses and not had the opportunity to meet the people who's lives I was touching. Granted the difference between a dingy door with wheelchair scuff marks and a newly painted door isn't much - you certainly wouldn't have thought so based on their reactions. You could tell how much they appreciated LINK and therefore appreciated anyone who helped the organization.

And that made my day painting doors great.