Why Should You Volunteer at Roundabout?

Have you ever been curious about what it would be like to work in someone else’s shoes? We know we’ve been! Jingkids is thrilled to introduce an exciting new series where we send our teen interns on a journey to try out different jobs in the city for a day. Our adventurous young reporter will step into the shoes of various professionals, experiencing the highs and lows of their daily routines and report on their experiences, sharing insights and lessons learned along the way.

Join us as we uncover the fascinating world of work through the fresh perspective of a curious teen, discovering what it takes to thrive in different careers with this “A Day in the Life of…” series.

This time, we sent our 12-year-old intern Margaret Yang, from Beijing City International School, to Roundabout for a day to get a taste of what Roundabout volunteers do to make the place run smoothly.

For those who are unfamiliar with Roundabout, they’re essentially Beijing’s very own Salvation Army. Their gigantic warehouse takes in donations from families all over the city, and they sell these pre-loved (and sometimes brand-new) items. The proceeds from these donated items go toward funding charities and worthy causes to support kids in need.

Find out more about Roundabout by them on WeChat at Roundabout666

After placing a few pieces of clothing into the donation box set up by Roundabout and purchasing a couple of books that I enjoyed from a book fair they held at my school, I started to get interested in this charity organization. I got in touch with an alumna who volunteered at their book fairs and in their store, asking what she did and how the organization works. I then decided to sign myself up for a day volunteering in their main store.

I have always been involved in some type of charity work. However, Roundabout works much differently.

Roundabout welcomes most types of donations given to them, and after sorting them, some of the objects are sold in their store while others are donated directly to the causes Roundabout supports.

I was led to the second floor and assigned to check puzzle sets and label which sets were complete. Even though this may sound boring, especially when the rest of the day revolved around sorting and organizing different objects, it helped me concentrate and reduced unnecessary anxiety throughout the day. It also put into perspective the care that Roundabout puts into every item they sell. If you buy a box of puzzles from Roundabout and it says that it’s a complete set, you can be sure that it is, thanks to the excellent counting skills of volunteers like myself.

After meeting two other volunteers and chatting with them, I found out that all volunteers who choose to help out with Roundabout share a common interest in giving back and helping others, which aligns closely with Roundabout’s mission of helping more children with illnesses and special needs.

I had a chat with Ms. Wei, one of the team members who helps find children whom Roundabout focuses on helping. She shared how there are children with certain blood diseases in Heibei Yanda. “When selecting children to help, we prioritize more urgent needs,” she shared.

Roundabout is also working on creating a program that helps children from underprivileged families, who have received medical treatment, return home with some of the financial burdens on the family lifted. It’s often they hear stories of families who gave everything they have and then some in order to seek medical help for their children. The love these parents have for their children is incredibly admirable but returning home after treatment, to poverty and debt is the last thing they need. This program requires extensive communication with the families of these vulnerable children and more fundraising efforts, so if you can aid Roundabout on its journey, please do!

Roundabout started in 2008 when its founder, Leslie Simpson, discovered that orphanages and children in rural areas of China were receiving a lot of unnecessary objects and not receiving sufficient donations. She began to focus her actions on receiving donations from others and using donations to help children with diseases, and things took off from there. As an organization with volunteers helping out for thousands of hours every year, Roundabout is definitely achieving its goal of getting more people involved in donations and helping others through small, everyday actions.

Even though the way Roundabout works sounds simple, the organization and sorting of the objects given to them is what requires so many volunteers, because counting every single piece of a puzzle and cleaning and taking every single piece of a LEGO set apart requires a lot of attention and concentration. But like how I experienced it, doing work like that allows me to concentrate and ensure what I have on hand is done responsibly and with quality.

To find out more about why other teens love volunteering at Roundabout, click here!

If spending your free time giving back to the community is something that appeals to you then Roundabout is a perfect place for you. To get more info on how you can volunteer with Roundabout, add the WeChat account below.