coach and/or umpire/referee kids sports and *not* be a jerk.

That seems to be a challenge for quite a few I've seen. I couldn't beleive it when last year while refereeing a U6 game (5 and 6 year old players), I had to threaten to call the game becuase the coaches were yelling at each other.

If you are looking to donate time, look around your community and you will see an activity/fundraising/whatever in which you will see a person (or people) without whom it just wouldn't happen.

Offer to help them :D. In my (limited) experience, the burden of that sort of thing always falls on a few people with a truely charitable heart, and the more help they can get the better for them. Basically so they don't burn out.

I do Church youth group/young adult stuff, but realise the Church bit isn't for everyone as a charitable outlet. It is a pretty sweet deal for me - I am in a group of 6 who organises stuff, so we spread the work around a bit.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you are going to give your time, make it in a sustainable way. I've seen too many people burn out through taking on too much (the pinch comes when work etc gets busy too).

Mark, I know you do good... you are helping me with the American Stroke Association's Fight to end Stroke marathon. As a stroke survivor (age 37 at the time of the stroke) you are helping me and many other people teach others about strokes and their causes. Keep up the good work. Kim SmileWavy


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