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Notes -
Those service clubs vary greatly between local chapters. My local Lions Club is not expensive at all to join, but some locals are - often, that's because they are primarily networking clubs for businesses that also do charity on the side. And those networking-heavy chapters kind of want to keep the rabble out.
If your local Lions are expensive, you can check if one of the other "classics" is somewhere near you: Rotary, Kiwanis, Zonta (female only), Soroptimist (female only), Round Table (male, under 40).
"Expensive" is relative. My local Lions Club here in Anchorage appears to be pretty average in its fees… but that's still outside my price range, given my poverty.
To put it more clearly, $40/mo. is outside my price range.
From their webpage: "Clubs accept new members by invitation" from a current member, and among the many membership requirements include having "A professional, proprietary, executive, managerial, or community position." I'm a jobless welfare parasite.
It appears to indeed be cheaper in terms of membership dues; however, looking at the application, it's another one where you need to be sponsored by an existing member. (Plus, the local club here in Anchorage meets via Zoom, which my internet quality isn't up to supporting.)
I'm male, so those are out.
Invite only; there doesn't appear to be a local club, and I'm too old (I'm in my 40s).
Thanks for answering, at least, but it looks like I'm just out of luck.
All those traditional service clubs are invite only, and so is every Lion's local I know. They are all very similar in vibe.
Joining on your own initiative (as opposed to being surprised by an invitation) is more of a serious long-term project for all of them, unless your local chapter is very young and small. Basically, you make contact with them and then work with them on a few projects - usually from a position where you can give them something they need. And speaking of serious: once you join, being a member is often also a pretty serious project. All clubs I know meet several times a month, and attending meetings is really not optional. If you don't come, you'll be missed, and you need to excuse yourself. If the club is doing a project, participating is not really optional. The club needs to be a very high priority, always.
But there are other options. If you want to do service, you can also look at Red Cross, Goodwill, your local food bank, shelters, or which churches do services beyond fund raising. Hospitals and nursing homes often also have volunteers doing service work.
Thanks some more. So, I hope that this is enough so that, the next time /u/hydroacetylene tells me to "join a community org(lions club is always recruiting)," I can point him to all this and tell him to shove it.
There are probably regional differences at work here. Until reading this thread, I’d never heard of a Lions club that charges extortionate dues or has exclusive rules about membership. Certainly the ones in my area will take just about anyone, even though in practice the members tend to be almost all retirees these days.
The Rotary Club, by contrast, have always been exclusively for professionals, as are usually all of the Masonic organizations.
If you’re just looking to volunteer and connect with people that way, what about any local soup kitchens or food banks?
What do you define as "extortionate"? The problem is that what most people would consider perfectly affordable dues are outside my price range. It's the same thing as with gym memberships, or any other of things people recommend to me on the assumption that anyone who lives in America and can get online can spare an extra $30~$40 a month for something.
Well, the original context was more about politics: that if I want "socially conservative institutions and communities, go and join them" (as opposed to waiting for a Caesar).
The two local organizations I am part of have dues of $20 and $45 annually. I wouldn’t remain a member of either if they charged that amount monthly. I believe the local Lions clubs have annual dues that are in a similar price range, though I don’t know the exact figure.
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In general, good advice.
His experience with Lions might vary. Depending on his location and especially age (my local Lions' youth org is much, much more open), his club might truly always be looking for people who just show up and do the work.
In general, but not for me. I asked this question elsewhere, and the answers I got were more invite-only organizations, most of which bar atheists.
Basically, it's what I already know — I'm just subhuman scum, Lebensunwertes Leben, and no club would ever want me as a member.
Objectively false. Concluding this from a quick look at a small section of some of the most traditional and elitist clubs is a bad idea.
A single, quick google search shows me that Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage has a "No One Dies Alone" program. They are looking for volunteers. Maybe this would be a better start, and offer some opportunity to meditate on what kind of life is lebensunwert.
If their volunteer requirements are also to stringent (hospitals usually require no criminal history because of the kids, and vaccines because of, well, all the sick people), just go help out at a food bank. They won't care about either.
Okay, so amend it to "no club worth joining" then. The original context that prompted me to ask this was /u/hydroacetylene saying to me "[i]f you want socially conservative institutions and communities, go and join them," and to "join a community org(lions club is always recruiting)"
So, the point is finding "a community org" within the class of "socially conservative institutions and communities" that's accessible to a poor, disabled, far-right atheist like me… in Anchorage.
From the hospital's volunteer page's list of requirements:
This seems like exactly the sort of regular, scheduled volunteer work that gets Social Security deciding you can hold down a job and aren't really disabled.
Our food bank hasn't been doing so well lately with regards to supplies, and from what I've seen, has been scaling back their operations. I say this as someone who, until recent schedule changes, was a frequent recipient of their help.
Ah, I see. I feel the goalposts keep moving, but that's not necessarily your fault.
Maybe hydro's Lions are really a different beasts than the ones I know. I wouldn't call them a conservative institution at all, they are purposefully fully centrist. My local club is currently assembling Christmas boxes for the refugees in the city - most of which the average conservative on this website would directly deport, I'm sure. But anyway...
So the goal is a conservative, but atheist community, at low cost. Unfortunately, that kills a whole lot of religious resources and stuff like the Young Repulicans, respectively. Is service even a criterion? Because if we drop that, you could just go to a rifle club meet-up or the cheapest sailing club you can find. I've done both at below $100 per year, and got to use club equipment for that fee.
I wonder who would tell them? And if someone did, 2 hours a week is a long shot from a job. But I have no idea how they work... I would probably just ask them flat out, they shouldn't fault you for giving a structured activity a try.
First link on Google was the most impressively professional effort to organize volunteers by a non-profit I have ever seen: https://foodbankofalaska.org/individual-volunteers/ They seem to place hundreds and hundreds of volunteers every month. 30 seconds in, the system looks to be uncharacteristically efficient and streamlined for an NGO.
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What's your disability? You really can't do anything for money? Where are your parents? Your siblings?
Why Anchorage?
Schizophrenia, autism, depression.
The local Division of Vocational Rehabilitation basically ruled me unemployable; and the "welfare trap" around SSI is rather steep.
All here in Anchorage.
See above. Born here, raised here (aside from some time out in rural AK, and college in SoCal). Family is here, friends are here, my entire personal support network is here.
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