Making Volunteering Fun by Participating in a Rake & Run

In High School, I was an active member of the Y-club for two years. For those of you who may not know what Y-Club is, it is the High School service club extension of the YMCA and YWCA which is a community and school service oriented club? During the school year in Y-club we participated in various city, state, and national events which helped us to become better leaders in our lives beyond high school. Y-Club was also a lot of fun at my high school. One of the most fun activities we did each year was something called a Rake & Run.

The Rake & Run was done during early October when leaves from the trees are typically beginning to accumulate on the ground. The members of our club would make some calls in the neighborhood to residents who were either elderly or disabled, and couldn't rake the leaves from the yard themselves. Typically we would spend a Saturday raking the yards of four or five houses on about five to seven city streets. When we were finished raking, we al walked up to the door and introduced our club, and told why we were going around raking people's yards.

To organize a Rake & Run, you need rakes, a few leaf blowers, and some lawn and garden bags. You might even consider buying lawn and garden bags in the shape of pumpkins, witches and ghosts, which can be filled with leaves and either used to decorate the exterior or interior of your business, or distributed to homes of children less fortunate for Halloween decorations.

Aside from helping those less able, the Rake & Run is also a good chance for club members to get to know each other, especially those who might not otherwise be acquainted with one another. I knew most of the members of my Y club but there were some who I really didn't know, and through the Rake & Run, I got to know most everyone in our club.

The Rake & Run can also be a fun event. I remember one of the yards we had. It had to have been one of the largest yards in my city. We had raked and piled no less than four big piles of leaves. By this time, we were all tired and silly and begun to slide down the rake handles into the piles of leaves.