As you celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend, what was top of mind for you? Was gratitude upper most? Was it relief for a long weekend? Maybe you struggled this weekend, as my friend did, sharing how hard it is as a single person to navigate holidays and everyone asking what their plans are.
For me, it was indeed a reflective time, where I focused on gratitude for the many gifts in my life. First and foremost, this is my family and secondly it really is for community. Both our close community of friends and support and the public community that I am part of in my professional role and one that my family has needed to access this past year as we have navigated some hardships. Having a Thanksgiving brunch of delicious food at my brother鈥檚 and then (almost literally, rolling) to our next Thanksgiving in the Park with friends, it made for a very filling (for both hearts and tummies) Sunday.
At some point on the weekend, work intruded and the need for this article to be written, which led me to reflect on my gratitude for the work I get to do. I truly love my work and the organization I work for. I love the people I interact with. I love the way they bring their hearts and passion to the work they do. I love the work we do, the ability to make a difference to someone who in one moment needs some support and when they receive it, is able to extend their impact to others as well. I call these the full circle moments and we will be sharing many of them at our special 40th Anniversary celebration that is coming up on October 25th. If you haven鈥檛 got your tickets yet 鈥� please get them today as they are going quickly and you don鈥檛 want to miss out. Here is a little more info about the event. It is going to be amazing and we would love it if you can join us.
I am also filled with gratitude for the many social service agencies like KCR that make our community stronger and the incredible volunteers that make the work these agencies do possible. Here are a two more opportunities to inspire those of you looking for a way to give back that you can find on the .
CRIS Adaptive: provides people living with disabilities the opportunity to go on outdoor adventures. They are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to assist with both indoor and outdoor tasks. They need office workers to help keep our workspace organized and clean and in order to take individuals out, they own a large fleet of adaptive equipment which comes with a lot of maintenance work. If you can help with yard and workshop maintenance, as well as minor repairs, they need you! By supporting in these areas, you'll free up our staff to focus on what they do best鈥攇etting more people outdoors and creating inclusive experiences in nature.
Spark: facilitates healing and wholeness through guided therapeutic encounters with horses. Horse assisted therapy, also referred to as equine assisted therapy, and horse assisted life coaching is an approach based on experiential learning, using all our senses. People engage in activities such as observing, grooming, feeding and leading a horse while being supported and guided by a mental health professional. It reaches people of all ages in a way that is inherently different from a traditional therapy office set up. Horse assisted therapy can also be integrated into a collaborative care plan with other mental health professionals. If this organization鈥檚 work resonates with you, you can help them out tremendously by helping with yard care, maintenance and small jobs/projects 2-4 hours a week. Days and times are flexible. Must be able to lift 30-50 lbs.
Dorothee Birker is the communications & development manager for KCR Community Resources.
