I have done a few different things for my Helpers of People week in the past including volunteering at the mission, meals on wheels and renewing relationships with family members. This year I wanted to do something that I knew nothing about. I know that our company supports PRA, Pregnancy Resources of Abilene, but I knew absolutely nothing about it. My perception was that it was probably just the opposite of Planned Parenthood and that was a good thing. So I sent an email to Kris Ritter and asked if I could volunteer and see what they were all about. The first thing I noticed when I got there was how friendly everybody was. It seemed like everybody truly loved their job and what they were doing there. I was given a quick tour and run through and then given a project of making information folders. To most people this would be considered grunt work….. I loved it. It’s mindless work that needs to get done and in my effort in doing so I was able to pay attention to what was going on around me. When I started to realize what this information can do to help save lives of children I had a moment of clarity. It doesn’t matter how small the job, every folder I touched and put together was an opportunity for me to help somebody choose life. That’s a huge deal and I was so thankful to be a part of that. Throughout the week I continued to make folders, helped with mail outs for donations, pulled charts and whatever else they needed. I can’t even count how many times I was told thank you for my work. I was also privileged to be a silent witness for two sonograms. It’s been 14 years since I have had that experience. It was so cool to get to see somebody witness the life inside of them for the first time. Hearing the heartbeat…..such a miracle. When my time came to an end, I was pleasantly surprised that they had a little gift waiting for me to show their appreciation for my help. That was a first. It felt really good to be appreciated so much. I will definitely be going back to volunteer there again and I’m so thankful that I work for a place that gives me the opportunity to do so.
