iVolunteer
Saturday, April 24, 2010
This past week was National Volunteer Week, so what better time to blog about volunteering!
One of my favorite things to do with my spare time is volunteering with a number of different organizations in my local area. Just last Saturday, I volunteered with Music for Relief and TreePeople. We planted 35 trees in an area burned from wildfires in California two years ago. I always have a great time digging in the dirt and getting beautiful trees in the ground. For me, it feels more like fun than work. I am really looking forward to the next opportunity I have to volunteer !
The best way to really enjoy volunteering is to find something that you love to do in your spare time and pair that with an organization that is helping in a way that speaks to your heart. And get friends to volunteer with you! Another organization that I volunteer with provides back-to-school supplies to kids who have been victims of abuse. I enjoy spending a morning with friends, stuffing backpacks with supplies I know will be used to help kids learn. And I love to imagine what their cute little faces must look like when they peer inside the backpack and see that they have everything they need plus some bonus materials like crayons and markers.
So how do you find that special organization that you want to work with? The best way is to get out there and try a few out! Here in the United States, there is an organization dedicated to make volunteering in our cities easier and more fun to do: iVolunteer (www.iVolunteer.org). They find and list great volunteer opportunities on their website. All you do is type in your zip code and ta-da! A list of volunteer opportunities for you to choose from.
iVolunteer... Do You?
