January Volunteer Spotlight: Elisabeth & Sadie Johnson
What motivates you to volunteer? Sadie and I wanted to do something in our community that gives us connection to Austin as contributors as well as an authentic opportunity to practice life skills. ACR is a great space for both!
Why ACR? Our friend Jen recommended ACR because it's a creative, open, friendly community. The work is multi-faceted and you can choose ways to volunteer that work for you. We love the arts and we also love the craft world and reuse, so ACR gives us an opportunity to connect to all 3 in up AND low tempo volunteer situations. We can get to know folks and participate in public community events like the Viva la Vida fest, support youth maker projects, or process donations quietly in a small group in a closed or open ACR store front. It's a really flexible volunteer opportunity.
How long have you volunteered with ACR? Since June 2019
Are you more into the arts aspect of ACR or the conservation aspect and why? Both. We love to observe art, make our own, and think about the ways donations can be re-used. It feeds our aesthetic interests as well as our desire to solve problems.
Where else have you/do you volunteer? Liz volunteers at Maplewood Elementary too. Sadie would love to volunteer in more places, but ACR is all she really has time for right now.
What do you enjoy the most out of volunteering for ACR? People are all really nice and there are so many different kinds of things you can do. You can work quietly and alone with materials, with small groups in quiet and loud settings, and in large or small groups in public settings. Plus we are regularly blown away by people's collections and creative re-use or re-purpose ideas. Human ingenuity is the best and we get to see it in the old and the young. Volunteering at ACR has helped me see my world a little differently.
Do you have any interesting or funny stories about something that happened while you were volunteering at ACR?