At the end and beginning of every school year, a list of volunteer opportunities comes home with every child. Sometimes, the job duties are obvious and you instantly know if it’s something you feel qualified to do. Treasurer? I think we’ll let a CPA do that job. Parliamentarian? I’m pretty confidant that there are some parents with legal training who would do that much better than I could. Other times, the job isn’t completely clear. Cafeteria? Umm, cut off crusts and open milk cartons? Grounds? Lawn mowing and floor mopping? I have worn many different hats at schools, but I think my favorite at the elementary school is this year’s job, Lost & Found.

I confess that I thought the job would be getting lost items reunited with their owners. Only ONCE have I truly helped someone find a missing belonging. There are also the less than a dozen items labeled with names that I send to the office for redistribution to students. The job is really to empty the Lost & Found nook at the end of every month. I fill two to four lawn sized trash bags with coats, jackets, mittens, hats, lunchboxes and various odd items. I wash them all and donate them somewhere. That’s it. Lost & Found is really Laundry & Charity. This is the best volunteer job ever.

So far this year, I have donated to Goodwill, Saving Little Hearts, Christenberry Elementary and two others that I can’t seem to remember. This month I ran out of big shopping bags that I had saved from Christmas shopping and I didn’t know how I was going to send the mountain of coats, hats and mittens to Christenberry. Chris at Kohl’s on Morrell kindly donated enough brand new bags to last through the end of the year. The awesomeness of this job never ends. The ONLY thing that even slightly tasks my brain? Choosing who will get the next month’s “new-to-you” jackets. I know the fundraiser committees need people to get dropped in dunk tanks and the carpool committees need people standing in the rain at way-too-early o’clock, but trust me when I tell you that you want to work on the Lost & Found at your school. Just don’t tell anyone I said that.

Now about that end of Eighth Grade Party . . .