I spent an afternoon this week near-giddy because I was standing next to a compelling sculpture of a woman’s torso by the amazing artist Louise Bourgeois. It was beautifully showcased in the center of a closet that was actually a small room of mirrored doors located off a dazzling master bedroom.

This gives you an idea of my oh-so-grueling assignment as a volunteer for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Manhattan Designer House Tour. You know, listening to Sinatra courtesy of Jonathan Schwartz while marveling at a round white bed flanked by round glass end tables and admiring a stunning Philip Porcella photograph, all the while greeting enthused participants of the tour.

Tough to be me, I know. But carry on I did as people stopped and stared in awe at the white room with purple and lavender accents. Truly I can’t do the home décor of Kris Fuchs -- principal of SUITE New York, a contemporary furniture and modern design showroom on Madison Avenue -- justice in this space, but there is a bigger point. While I was listening to “ooh-ing” and “aah-ing” in a delightful atmosphere, a terrific organization whose mission is to “improve and enhance the quality of life for all young people, ages 6 to 18” was raking in the dough to the tune of $150 per ticket.

This is volunteerism. Sometimes when it feels like life is coming at us from too many directions, we put off the idea of volunteering because it just seems like another thing on our plate. This was one day of my life, one enriching day of meeting new people and seeing the crème de la crème of home design up close.

“You didn’t do anything with the kids [from the Boys & Girls Club]?” a friend asked about my assignment.

That’s the beauty of volunteering. You can go with your strengths. Two of mine are putting people at ease and striking up conversations. It’s all needed. It all matters.

“It is with great angst that I address you this year with the acknowledgement that we are all not doing as well financially as we have in the past,” wrote Daniel Quintero, executive director of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, in the organization’s 2008 annual report. “That being said, our experience during the tough economic times is that our services are needed much more, and the demand becomes greater.”

According to three national alumni surveys conducted for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, most recently in 2007, 57%said their Club literally saved their life and 51% achieved a higher level of education than they thought possible because they were inspired by their Club participation. Nationally, 21% of African-American males do not graduate from high school, while only 2% of Boys & Girls Club African-American males do not finish.

Last month I wrote a column lauding the designation of September 11^th as an official day of service. That call came about last year from then-Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama at Columbia University and was made official this year by now-President Obama.

“To equate the tragedy of 9/11 with ‘volunteerism’ is a travesty,” one reader wrote in response to that column. “We remember what happened on that day for what it was: an attack on US civilians on US soil.”

Why are those two points mutually exclusive? Wasn’t our shared humanity heightened by those attacks on our country? Some people feel called because of it.

The travesty, actually, would be watching our military do all the heavy lifting while most of our citizens live as if nothing has changed. We cannot all don the uniforms, get in the trenches, and endure the rigorous training. We cannot all leave our families and risk our lives every minute of every day. But we can do something besides sit back and criticize.

It’s almost embarrassing to say I did my part for one day by standing in a beautiful room amidst eye-popping décor. But really, isn’t the key figuring out what you are particularly equipped to do and then committing to it? These days, when fewer people are inclined to write a check, there are organizations galore looking for your special touch.

Give it to them. It’s a win-win. Trust me.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.