Helping Hearts, Blog of Anne Sanders

As of yesterday I have been volunteering for the American Cancer Society (ACS) for one year.   It has been a great experience.   The people I volunteer for are so appreciative of my work.   I’ve had the chance to brush up on my clerical skills.   I enjoy getting out of the house, meeting new people and being involved in an organization that’s making a difference in the world.   The kicker is that because I have volunteered more than 40 hours in the past year (other studies say 100 hours), I also am in better health than if I hadn’t volunteered. You read that right, volunteering more than 40 hours a year makes you healthier. At least that’s true according to the Corporation for National and Community Service which reviewed two decades of research on the benefits of volunteering.   Here are a few of the results: ·          Volunteering enhances a person's social networks to buffer stress and reduce disease ...

Did you celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week last week? It’s a great time to try something kind that you’ve never done before and see how it feels.   In my other blog , I called it starting streams of kindness because I printed some kindness cards that ask people to pass on another kind act after receiving one. I must admit my week of random acts went slowly.   I wanted to buy someone’s meal who was behind me at the Burger King one day, but there was no one there.   I noticed the surliness of a waitress but didn’t think to leave her a big tip and a kindness card until it was too late.   In fact, it really wasn’t until this week that I began to give out my kindness cards.   The next waitress we had at a Mexican restaurant on Monday got a hefty tip and a card with a smile on it from me. Then I brought a security guard a coke and a chocolate chunk cookie for a snack one night.   I did do one act of kindness during the week in question, but it was...

Next Tuesday we celebrate Valentine’s Day.   My husband will be coming home after being deployed for over six months.   I have already gotten him a card and present and he says he is making something for me.   We can’t wait to see each other after being so long apart. His visit has occupied my and our son’s minds for weeks now. We’re planning all kinds of fun activities and things to show our love for him.   Despite my preoccupation with my husband’s return, there’s something else on my mind about next week.   February 13-19 is also Random Acts of Kindness Week . It’s the season of the heart. We are to show love to our dear ones and to others.   I think the best description of how this is supposed to work was done by Jesus.   Way back in the third book of the bible when Moses was giving out laws, one of them was to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Thousands of years later when Jesus was walking around doing his ministry, he was asked who...

Everybody has their own way to make a difference in the world. Some have the time to volunteer a regular amount of time every week.   Others give regularly to their charity of choice. Still others raise money for sporting events in which they participate. Some spend time on the computer clicking for a cause or e-mentoring. My husband and oldest sister donate in another way. They give blood to help save lives. January is National Blood Donor Month because during the winter people give blood less often.   Yet the need does not go away during the winter months.   In fact the Red Cross reports that every two seconds in the United States, someone needs blood and 44,000 units of blood are needed every day.   One pint of blood can help save up to three lives. Here are 25 more quick facts about giving blood. My husband has tons of t-shirts from all the blood drives he does. Donors can give every eight weeks. However, he sometimes travels to places that delay his...

January is National Mentoring Month. When most people think of mentoring, they think of volunteers spending time with young people and helping them become adults. That is an important form of mentoring, but there are mentors that help adults as well. When mentoring is partnered with microfinance in the poorest parts of the world, people learn how to make their own opportunities to succeed.   The newest mentoring opportunities in business are set up by organizations that want new businesses to bloom and grow. Business leaders can volunteer to share their knowledge with young entrepreneurs building their own businesses across the world. MicroMentor provides small businesses with mentors who are willing to share their experience owning or managing businesses. Through telephone calls, MicroMentor mentors work with entrepreneurs so no in-person meetings are required. Agora Partnerships is another mentoring organization that focuses on young entrepreneurs who are addressing socia...

As my first blog for my own website, I felt I should explain a little bit about how I got to this point. Since August of 2010, I have been blogging about volunteering and charity work for Working Mother Magazine’s website. I call it the Heart to Heart blog because I believe that helping others is a heart matter. When we help others, we connect hearts. We may never see the fruit of our heart work, but it is there in the heart of the recipient.   That is why I chose to call this blog Helping Hearts. We are hearts that help other hearts when we reach out to others through volunteer or charity work. I am a writer who has written for newspapers, websites and magazines since 2002, but I found that there was a particular type of article I was writing that I felt was more important than the others, that had more meaning.   I was writing features about teachers, volunteers and other inspiring people who gave of themselves without expecting a payback. They reminded me of how I wan...