Volunteering

The Harsh Truth – Those Who Do Not Volunteer Are Not Keen On Charity

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Many persons like the idea of doing charity but are not keen on getting their hands dirty. In the long run, you would be in a position to do good for maximum number of individuals only if you are prepared to contribute much more than money. However, this does not mean that you should stop at money alone. There are many ways to volunteer for charity without actually dealing with the poor and needy people who make you so guilty.

Why don’t you offer to design the website of a charitable organization? You can work from your home and can put in your best skills and efforts to set up their website. The website will help the charitable organization establish its online presence. It may even succeed in receiving donations through the internet.

Do not bill them for your work done and let that be your charitable contribution. Setting up a website is like doing labor to set up a shelter home for the poor and needy people. It will be an asset that will help them for a very long time. As long as the charitable organizations can pay for the hosting charges, it will have an online presence and will be accessible to web surfers from all over the world.

Once you start thinking on these lines, you will realize that your hesitation in volunteering is because you do not want to do charity. Many persons don’t like to think themselves as uncharitable. However, the truth is that the most of us are very selfish and greedy. How else would we explain the condition of poor people all over the world today?

Filed Under: General, Uncategorized, Volunteering Tagged With: Charitable organization, Poverty, Volunteering, Website

Little-Known Benefits of Working for a Charity

Starting a career working for a charity or not-for-profit organization is not always a new job seeker’s first choice. However, there can be many benefits to working in the non-profit sector that can pay off in the later stages of a career.

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With a charity, job seekers can often have the opportunity to transfer from a volunteer position to a paid position. Unlike internships in the corporate world, volunteer positions are not as competitive or difficult to obtain. Volunteering can put you in the right place at the right time, and you can have the advantage of a foot in the door that outsiders don’t have. It also allows you to develop professional contacts and networking opportunities for paid positions.

With some larger or national charities, there is the opportunity to start at a local branch, even as a volunteer, and obtain a paid position at a regional or national office. If your career goals include working at a large corporation or Fortune 500 company, experience at a national headquarters, even of a charitable agency, can be very impressive.

The experience you gain from working at a not-for-profit agency can result in transferable skills which can help you in the business world. Because local charities tend to be small, it’s an ideal way to gain experience in many facets of operation, including database management, marketing, supervision and project administration. Experience with a charity can also get you invitations to join Boards of Directors or provide consultation to charitable start-ups. In some cases, student loan repayment programs are available to those who commit to working for certain non-profit agencies for a fixed number of years.

Filed Under: General, Habitat for Humanity Tagged With: Charitable organization, Non-profit organization, Volunteering

Best Ways for Young Professionals to Volunteer

Sometimes it can be tough for young professionals to find ways to volunteer, especially if they’ve recently moved to a new city or started a new job. But don’t despair! Here are three fun and rewarding volunteering opportunities for young professionals.

Join a junior board
Junior boards, sometimes known as associate boards or auxiliary boards, are becoming increasingly common for charities. While most charities are run by the executive board, which is usually comprised of the founders and highest donors, the junior board is an opportunity for young professionals to have a say in the growth of the organization. Junior boards often plan fundraising events, coordinate volunteers for various events, and raise awareness about the charity.
Run for a reason
If you’re athletic, consider getting involved in your city’s next 5k, 10k, or half or full marathon to raise money for your favorite charity. Not only is participating in a run a great way to promote your charity and fundraise, but it’s also an opportunity to meet other philanthropically minded individuals and get in shape. Many charities make it easy to raise money for them by offering personalized webpages to fundraise online; still, even if a charity doesn’t offer this tool, there are many online fundraising websites runners can use to collect donations.
Organize or participate in fundraising parties
Fundraising parties are also incredibly popular among young professionals; they provide the chance to explore the city’s nightlife, meet others, and have a great time, all in the name of charity. They’re also quite easy to organize, as many bars and restaurants will be willing to donate venue space, provide appetizers, or offer discounted beverage packages in exchange for publicity.

These are just three simple ways that young professionals can get involved with charitable organizations. If you’re looking for another way to volunteer, contact local charities to see what they need help with most.

Filed Under: General, Volunteering Tagged With: Fundraiser, Fundraising, Volunteering

Volunteering Opportunities for Healthcare Professionals

Hospitals and free health clinics for the uninsured are always in need of volunteers for tasks ranging from seeing patients and writing prescriptions, to filing, moving patients between rooms, or calling to confirm appointments. For those interested in pursuing a career in medicine or healthcare, volunteering at a local hospital or clinic can be a great way to gain the requisite patient contact experience while helping members of the community in the process. Below are some standard volunteering positions to take on at these organizations.

Volunteer physician
Physicians are in very high demand at many free health clinics, and as a result, volunteer physicians can often set their own schedules. The flexibility and ability to help the uninsured are some of the benefits that volunteer physicians experience by donating their time.
Volunteer nurse
Like doctors, nurses are needed at many organizations; some will even hire full-time nurses, while other simply provide flexible ways to volunteer.
Triager
Triagers are the individuals who take patients’ vital signs, like heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature, and record chief complaints. This position is usually filled by premedical undergraduate students or by those interested in applying to medical school, nursing school, or PA school.
Lab assistant
Similar to triagers, lab assistants are often students or people interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. Lab assistants draw blood, check blood sugar, and run lab tests on blood and urine samples.
Front desk assistant
The front desk staff checks patients in, schedules appointments, and files charts. The vast numbers of patients mean that help with filing and calling to confirm appointments is always appreciated.
Medical interpreter
Many uninsured patients do not speak English as their first language; as a result, translators and medical interpreters are often needed to facilitate patient communications..

Consider looking for one of these volunteering positions at a hospital or clinic near you to explore your interests in healthcare!

Filed Under: Community, F.E.M.A Tagged With: Clinic, Health care, Volunteering

Boosting a Resume with Volunteer Experience

There are many benefits for people that choose to volunteer their time and talents in order to help others. Some of these include better health, lower stress levels, higher self confidence and an improved sense of well being. Another major benefit that many people overlook is the real world experience that volunteering can offer.

Although volunteer work does not pay, it is still considered work experience and should always be included on your resume. Some companies will even look for this type of work when hiring new employees. Volunteer work experience should be written the same way that a paid job position would be written on your resume. Therefore, when you include volunteer work on your resume, be as specific as possible. Give yourself an appropriate title for the type of work you performed and mention each job responsibility. If you are applying for a specific job, be sure to mention volunteering tasks that relate to the the position you want. Do not hide volunteer work at the bottom of your resume. Instead, include it prominently with your other career experience. Instead of calling this section of your resume of “Employment History” you may want to use a title such as “Professional Experience” or a similar description that includes both paid and unpaid positions.

If you are already employed full time, volunteering on evenings or weekends can be a great way to get a start in a new job field. This is also a great way to try out a new career that you may be unsure about. If you are unemployed and searching for a new position, use volunteer work as a way to keep yourself active in your career field while you search for a new position. It can also help fill any gaps of time between full time jobs.

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: Business, Employment, Volunteering

Pro Bono Volunteer Pros

While usually thought of as only for lawyers, pro bono publico work, which is Latin and means for the public good, can be done by many kinds of professionals. This is simply providing professional services for free, or in a word, volunteering.

Many Opportunities on the Web

Professionals generally have computers and know how to use them. Surfing the web for volunteer opportunities is a snap. The number of organizations looking for pro bono work is quite large, and just about every profession is covered. Doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants and even professional entertainers are needed.

Creating Opportunity

One of the characteristics of most professionals is having the ability to create their own opportunities. They also have the knack of joining together to form clinics, partnerships and firms of their own. If a need exists and a professional wants to fill the need, waiting for someone else to take the ball and run is likely not going to happen. Professionals run with their own balls and on their own steam. This is what makes them professionals.

Great Publicity

Professionals need to be recognized in their communities, either from a strictly business sense or from a burning need to exercise leadership. Volunteer work will satisfy the burning need and bolster the business at once. Newspapers and televised news love to cover human interest stories, and doing pro bono work for the community is golden to the media. Politicians may also want to help out to get the positive publicity, either financially or by supporting the cause in word and deed.

Volunteering is in itself a satisfying activity for anyone. However, professionals have capability and often the need to make life on earth better for the disadvantaged and needy. International organizations such as Doctors without Borders and the Red Cross have developed from one or just a few professionals going all pro bono on the world. The professional who volunteers makes a tremendous positive impact.

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: Legal aid, Philanthropy, Volunteering

Volunteer at a Halfway House and Avoid Substance Abuse

If you find yourself with some extra time on your hands, consider volunteering at a local halfway house. Many facilities welcome the help of volunteers to keep things running smoothly and to help the patients get through the time at the home. There are a lot of benefits to volunteering, including health and social benefits.

Volunteering provides a sense of pride, accomplishment, and satisfaction. When you help someone in need, it makes you feel better as a person. Many volunteers can’t even put into words how good it feels to help others in need. Research has shown that people who volunteer will live a longer, happier, and more fruitful life. Volunteers have a lower rate of depression and are typically very happy people. Volunteering is also a great way to teach teenagers responsibility, gratitude, and a sense of caring for others.

When you volunteer at a halfway house like MichaelsHouse.com, you are helping people with various substance abuse problems. You could see people at their worst and help them reach their best. You will make life-long friends, learn new skills, and feel proud about your ability and willingness to help out the community. When you help other people improve their lives, you are making the world a better place.

If you volunteer at MichaelsHouse.com, or a similar facility, you will get a firsthand look at the effects of addiction. This will undoubtedly make you think twice about abusing substances, or even having a few too many drinks while spending a night out on the town.

You can also learn from those that you are helping. Learn from their mistakes, but also learn from their successes. Do not take the simple things in life for granted, especially your family and friends, the roof over your head, and the clothes on your back. When you do have something extra, especially your time, share it with others and help spread joy to other people’s lives by volunteering.

Filed Under: Volunteering Tagged With: Halfway house, Substance abuse, Volunteering

Translating What You Love into Volunteer Work

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No matter what your special talent, passion, or interest, there is a way to use it in your volunteer work and do something with your gift that truly matters.

Performers
If you have always been gifted in the arts or enjoyed singing, dancing, or acting, consider taking your talents to a nursing home to perform for residents at a party or meal. Gather up a few friends and go as a group. After you perform, you can mingle with guests and help nursing home staff to serve refreshments or prepare an activity. If you play an instrument, you could volunteer to play during a gathering at a hospital or rehab center as patients are arriving and getting situated at the event.

Athletes
Many people who would rather spend their weekends at the gym or playing for their local adult soccer team don’t know how to translate this into volunteer work. Consider joining Big Brothers Big Sisters. This organization matches underprivileged kids with adult mentors who plan regular outings and activities to spend time together. Be sure to put your sports background on your application and the organization will try to match you with a Little Brother or Little Sister who also loves sports and would love someone to practice with or learn from.

Academics
If you would rather read or do research on interesting subjects than have to be social, there are plenty of volunteer tasks that are a good match. Try a local historical society or library to see if they need help. Many historical societies, both in the library and the museum, are staffed almost entirely by volunteers. They need volunteers to index new collections, perform research for patrons, and help reporters run fact checks. If you want a mix of social and non-social volunteer work, consider a museum where you can learn about collections and then give tours.

Volunteer work will be even more meaningful when you share something you love.

Filed Under: Seasonal Volunteering Tagged With: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Charitable trust, Employment, Opportunities, Organization, Philanthropy, Volunteering

One Warm Coat: A Quest to Keep Everyone Warm This Winter

According to 2008 statistics, one in five children in the United States are living in poverty. One Warm Coat seeks to provide warm winter coats for children and families who cannot afford to stay warm this winter.

One Warm Coat organizes coat drives across the United States to collect coats for people in need. For many people, donating a coat costs nothing and they can go to a local coat collection to drop off old coats. For people without a local coat collection, One Warm Coat can collect coats through the mail. Simply pack up your coat and ship it off to them. Information on donating coats in available at their website: http://www.onewarmcoat.org.

One Warm Coat also provides resources for groups or individuals looking to host a coat drive. Information, again is available at their website and there is a way that anyone can help.

Many children outgrow coats each year and old coats stay in the closet and arenâ€™t used for years. Families can create a shared experience by involving young children in the process of sorting their winter coats. Everyone understands what it must be like to be cold on a winter day. Through this learning experience, young children can learn about why we clean out our closets and help people in need.

This is an easy way to involve children in volunteer work and instill in them a lifelong desire to help others. Children whose parents helped them to volunteer from a young age will take that understanding of community with them throughout their life. In the case of One Warm Coat, children love the idea that they are helping other children by sharing their things with them.

A coat is an essential winter item that everyone should be able to have this winter. One Warm Coat makes it possible to share old coats with others and help them to keep everyone warm throughout the colder months.

Filed Under: Seasonal Volunteering Tagged With: Jacket, Non-profit organization, Philanthropy, PR Newswire, United States, Volunteering, Winter-Coats, Wool