I come from a family of givers. My mom and dad are givers. My siblings and their spouses are givers. My husband is a giver, almost to a fault! Growing up, I remember my mother tapping away on her type writer, volunteering her time to put together the New Neighbors League Club newsletter each month. My father, less of an organized volunteer, is more of an innate do-gooder, doing for others when he sees people in need. Whether Mom was needlepointing a kneeler for the church or Dad was offering to loan what he could to a friend who’d encountered tough times, doing for others was just something my parents did and still do.    
    The older I get, the more of a community servant I’m becoming as well — school stuff, church stuff, any kind of stuff — not only to be of service, but also because it feels good. In high school, I volunteered at a home for troubled youth. In college, I was an HIV/AIDS peer educator. Now that I have kids of my own, I volunteer for things that either they are involved in or that they can do with me. Last winter, my 7-year-old helped me make breakfast for the homeless men who stayed the night at our church. He was filled with questions afterward — how did they get homeless? do they have families? — for which I had no answers. “Then why do you do it?” he asked. “Because it’s a nice thing to do,” I replied, “and I enjoy doing for others ... it’s what we do.”
    This issue of Her Nashville spotlights five local “Giving Girls.” (I know, I know. There ARE tons of great women in this city who also give of themselves, but I only have so many pages! That’s why EVERY issue features a do-gooder in the “Her Heart” section.) These women have very different, very important, very inspirational messages. They share why they do what they do. They offer suggestions on how to get more involved in community efforts. Perhaps most importantly, though, they each reiterate how easy it is to help those in need. And “those in need” doesn’t have to be defined as people who are down-and-out. It can be as simple as volunteering to file papers at a local nonprofit or driving an elderly person to a doctor’s appointment or even simply donating old clothes to Goodwill ... anything that makes someone else’s life a little bit better.
    The number one reason people don’t volunteer — or volunteer more — is time. That’s the thing, though. It doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Read what these women have to say, and I guarantee you’ll come away inspired and ready to dive in. Giving of yourself is easy, it needn’t cost a dime, and it feels good ... for EVERYONE involved!