What I'm about to say won't be popular . . .
BUT, if you want to donate your time, go to a hospital ward, take soup to someone, go play on the street corner in front of Goodwill, or at a Church activity or a true charity.
Nursing Homes, at least around here, are NOT charities. Rather they are for-profit businesses governed by state and federal regulations and they are required by law to provide entertainment for their residents, and they have budgets for that.
If we play for free, they will either keep the money in the budget or spend it for something else.
They are notorious for pinching funds even though they are paid to care for every person in there, either individually, by insurance or by the government (us!).
Although I don't make my living playing for Nursing Home residents, I really enjoy it. However, many of us here DO play them for a living and those that play them for free MAY be depriving one of our friends of a paid job.
I've recently heard of more than one instance of an Activities Director being fired for requiring live "auditions". They had no intention of ever hiring the performers; they were keeping the money for themselves and finding someone else to "audition" next month. Not that's COLD.
The Church groups that play for Nursing Homes are a different story. Their mission is part of their Ministry, and is religious in nature.
However when we provide our services for a party, or event, we should be paid just like every other vendor the Nursing Home pays.
Fire away!
DonM