Opportunities

Benefits of Volunteering in Your Community

March 24, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Most people want to be involved in volunteering but need a push to get going. The majority of us do mandatory volunteering at one time or another but as we enter adulthood, anything that isn’t paying a competitive wage tends to end up on the back burner. There are many benefits to volunteering people never even consider. While the focus tends to be on the job you will do and who will benefit, it doesn’t hurt to look at the ways it will help you as well. For instance, you can get your focus off of yourself.

Most of us lead busy lives and are so focused on our own issues that we don’t take time to consider those who are in a worse position than we are. Indeed. volunteering allows you to gain perspective into people who don’t have a place to live or who have substance addictions that negatively affect their lives. The perspective one gains by volunteering cannot be learned in a book or classroom, but the face to face interactions will serve as a far more valuable learning tool.

Volunteering also allows you to develop leadership skills on your own time. Potential employers want to know that you have been tested and the right volunteering allows you to do just that. Take a challenging assignment and see it through regardless of what you have to do to achieve the goal. You will come out on the other side a wiser person.

Regardless of your reason for volunteering, there’s no denying the multi-faceted benefits. Personal growth and resume boosting are just two reasons to get out and volunteer.

Filed Under: Society, Volunteering Tagged With: Opportunities, Philanthropy, volunteer

Volunteer Workshop Facilatators

December 3, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Volunteer Workshop Facilitators

Good Facilitators Motivate

1. A good volunteer facilitator motivates and encourages. When coming in to facilitate a group it is good have done homework on the organization. You may know your assignment in advance but if you are unclear double check with a school administer. Things happen and being prepared and organized can free your time up for other things.

2 Good Volunteer Facilitator Etiquette

There is such a thing as etiquette when we lead groups. Respect for people’s time is the number one complaint of people sharing common space. Know your audience as much as possible. Dialogue flows better when the comfort level is not anxiety ridden. Use nametags for you and for the group. Talk to the group and not at them.

3. Location, Location, Location

Make sure people know where to meet. A lot of time is lost from meetings because of poor communication. Offer e-maps in your mailings. Make sure there are plans in place in the event of inclement weather. A phone -tree with all group members listed is helpful in contacting members in the event that a pre planned event is cancelled.

4. Welcoming Committee

Make sure that each new peson coming through the door feels welcome. Name tags and a greet give a message that you care. Food and drink are always a draw. If funds are low turn meetings into a Pot Luck, this reduces the burden of cost on a few people and feeds everyone. This win-win situation now feeds people through community based fellowship.

5. Feedback

Ask for feedback from everyone involved in your experience. Managers can give first hand information on your progress in her company. What you offered worked and your enthusiasm for getting the job done both right and ahead of time have paid off.

Filed Under: Society, Volunteering Tagged With: Opportunities, Philanthropy, volunteer

Dangers of volunteering

November 13, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Volunteering is an act of social solidarity. It is an impulse that sets of a sea of benevolence. Inspiring acts of volunteerism have always been etched in the collective consciousness of humankind. Kindness, compassion, generosity, and selflessness characterize volunteerism. The birth of volunteerism began as early as human beings existed, but has been prominent after the world wars, and epidemics. Volunteerism has dropped significantly over the past decade or so. Revival signs are imminent as social imbalance still persists in economically and socially underdeveloped countries.

Volunteerism on virtue of being an act of courage and endurance of ones spirit, has its set of advantages and disadvantages. To talk about the disadvantages, volunteerism is risky. It involves cleaning up a mess that some people wouldn’t dare to go into. It is never easy to do something that is not circumstantially induced. That’s what volunteering is all about. You might be living in an upmarket house, with a terraced swimming pool. But in an act of volunteering you might have to stay in mosquito-infested areas, as part of a refugee-help committee. It is clear that volunteers have to be trained in travel health. Health conditions are not the same everywhere.

Volunteering in dangerous areas, is indeed very dangerous. This is because when danger strikes, it does not differentiate the target from the non-targets. In areas of communal strife, violence, social unrest, political breakdowns, volunteerism is indeed a challenge. A volunteer is in as much danger as the people the volunteer is trying to help. Volunteers also run the risk of being stranded in political unstable countries. News reports have it when volunteers became refugees themselves for long periods, when a political coup resulted in seizure of airports by rebels and so on.

Helping people does come with its dangers and risks. But this should not stop people from volunteering. Volunteering should be an act of humanity. Ultimately humanity is the source of sustenance of all factions in the society.

Filed Under: Volunteering Tagged With: Opportunities, Philanthropy, United States, volunteer

Involuntary Volunteering

November 10, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Volunteering sounds very specific and rehearsed. You don’t need to be a part of a volunteering organization to be a volunteer. You can do it yourself everyday. Be the change that you want to see, is what Mahatma Gandhi has said. Volunteering is just like that. It is the change that reforms society,and eggs people to follow suit.

People need reference points to look at before they emulate an act. Agreed, humans beings have the power of gathering their own self-expression. But they still look at other people to see if they are doing it before they attempt to do it. So if you are the good Samaritan who does not wait for an volunteering agency to come tapping on your shoulder for help, then you can start off on your own.

Volunteering is a socially congenial act. Its primary concern is to help society, when society finds it difficult to help itself. These situations are where the volunteer’s act is cut out. The world needs more involuntary volunteers. Although volunteering organizations offer you a more result-driven volunteering approach, volunteering always starts off as a personal thing.

There are so many involuntary volunteering situations around you. You can go and preach about the harmful effects of smoking to a group of addicted teenagers. You can be a citizen journalist, capturing the good things and bad things of everyday life. Your captures will add a lot of news value.

Take for example, a heavy-goods truck is asking for help to push it across the road. If you can get down and offer help, then you have volunteered to do something. Another instance would be when a heavy traffic jam takes place in an unmanned area with no traffic personnel. You could set things right by going to the center of action, and trying to clear the mess. All these acts are involuntary volunteering. It is born out of the will to take the lead and make a change.

Filed Under: Volunteering Tagged With: Opportunities, Philanthropy, Portland State University, volunteer

Volunteering: An act of self-liberation

November 6, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image by iabuk via Flickr

Volunteering is a liberating journey. It cuts across feelings of selfishness, and instills a sense of inclusiveness and empathy. Volunteering is about creating empathy within oneself. Putting oneself in the position of other is a great way to understand the difficulties of the other person. Volunteers have big hearts and great souls. They are sometimes considered angels of God who come to the rescue of people in trouble.

Helping another person is one of the greatest acts of humanity. Man beings a social being, needs assistance for evolution and sustenance of the species. Acts of assistance in troubled times lift the collective spirit of humanity. If you see across the world, people volunteer to go to even the most remote of places to help other people. One may wonder what drives these people to seek something out of their comfort zone. It is definitely not for karmic liberation, or an act of cleansing away one’s sins with acts of humanity. There should definitely be something else to it. It is indeed for self-liberalization, and a progress to spirituality.

Fully knowing the pitfalls of crossing boundaries for humanitarian acts, thousands of volunteers do so. Human beings are so much in-liberated. Just like the half-moon which has a bright side, even human beings have good qualities. The world would have been such a wonderful place, if concerted efforts were taken to tap the bright side of people. Often, human beings end up being overshadowed by their dark side, and the bright side never fails to reveal itself.

Volunteering is indeed one of the ways to spirituality. It’s a pilgrimage into self-discovery. Just like taking an adventurous trip into undiscovered meadows, so too people try to understand their goodness. Times have made people understand that only goodness holds the key to sustenance of mankind. Volunteering holds its place as one the best mediums to spread the spirit of goodness. After all, when human beings are born, they are born good.

Filed Under: Volunteering Tagged With: Human, Opportunities, Philanthropy, volunteer

Family Volunteering

October 24, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Kids can be the most genuine volunteers! Yes of course. Getting kids to volunteer is the best thing that parents can do. Kids bring with them so much charm in their efforts that it will make the volunteering become fun and frolicking. Try to make children volunteer is actually quite easy. Adults often find it hard on them to take up volunteering activities. Children on the other hand find it fun, and playful.

You can always turn on the idea of volunteering with your family in tow. If you are a parent, who has energetic children, then you can think of taking up volunteering activities along with you children. You don’t need to do it once a year, and do it enormously. All that is required is an hour or two on weekends.

If your family takes up volunteering activities then this act will be emulated by others as way. Imagine the potential if all families volunteered in their free time. The world would have been such a helpful place! Family volunteering is often an underestimated aspect of volunteering. It holds a lot of potential. Volunteering organizations can create innovating volunteering-excursion trips that offer controlled volunteering programs.

Family volunteering has not picked pace as expected, and is still a relatively new concept. A lot of work has to be done to enhance the image of volunteering. For people who do not know about volunteering, a volunteering activity seems a risky job. It is seen as a job that is ridden with dangers of contracting diseases, living in dangerous conditions, compromising on one’s safety and so on. In the initial stages people fail to understand the positive sides of volunteering until they actually start doing it.

Young volunteers are a welcome change to the volunteering scene. All places might not be apt for them. One can’t obviously take children as volunteers to certain places. Places that demand the presence of only seasoned volunteers will entertain absolutely no children volunteers.

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: Family, Opportunities, Philanthropy, volunteer

Meet New People Through Volunteering

October 22, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

If you are new to an area or would just like to meet new friends, consider volunteering for a local non-profit organization. While you help other people, you could expand your social network and have a little fun at the same time. It’s definitely a win-win situation.

Regardless of your age or skill-set, there’s a volunteer opportunity out there for you. If you’re a teenager who has a lot of time on their hands over the summer or on weekends, volunteering could fill that gap. Many volunteer opportunities are perfect for young people. Some museums will allow a teenager to act as a tour guide or work in the gift shop. Local parks often run theater programs that depend on volunteerism to create productions. A teenager could find themselves selling tickets, creating scenery, running the lights, or even acting on the stage. In the meantime, they will be making new friendships that could last for a lifetime.

Many senior citizens find that they have too much time on their hands after retirement. This is especially true if their families are busy or live in other areas. If an older person begins to live an isolated and sedentary lifestyle, their health will decline much faster than if they remain active both physically and socially. Volunteering will also provide them with a sense of purpose and usefulness. Everyone’s life is better when they feel needed.

If you don’t fall into either of these two groups, volunteering is still a good way to become active in the community. Many people would admit that it can be hard to make friends as work and family responsibilities begin to take over. Volunteering can help anyone become involved in the community again and feel like they are a part of things. It will also allow people to meet and become friends who would never have crossed paths otherwise.

The next time you’re feeling a little lonely or left out, consider joining a volunteer program. There’s nothing like the feeling that comes from helping others and you may find that you help yourself at the same time.

Filed Under: Society, Volunteering Tagged With: Adolescence, Non-profit organization, Opportunities, Philanthropy, Specialty Travel, Travel, volunteer, Youth

Volunteering Can Lead to Job Offers

October 21, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Many people don’t think of volunteering as a way to find a new job, but it’s a great opportunity. Most major corporations encourage their employees to volunteer, and you will come in contact with people from many local companies. By volunteering, you could use your skills to help people and land your next job.

Start off by looking for a volunteerism opportunity that can take advantage of your valuable business knowledge. While you’re there, treat it as a real job instead of something you’re doing just to pass the time. You never know whether or not one of the other volunteers is a small business owner or a top executive. Make sure that you’re friendly and helpful, as well. One of them may decide that they would like to use your services in their operation and offer you a job.

If you can’t find a volunteer position that closely matches your skills, pick something that sounds interesting. They’ll be willing to teach you how to do the job. This may turn out to be a job skill that you can use later to find a job, or someone may think you’re a fast learner and hire you for something else. Either way, it will be better than staying at home.

You may be wondering if you should advertise the fact that you’re unemployed to the volunteer world. To make sure that people keep you in mind for jobs, you definitely should not keep it a secret. However, don’t give people the idea that you are merely volunteering to find a job. Instead, say something about sharpening your skills while you’re looking for work or that you’d rather be working that sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring.

Even if you don’t come across someone that needs to hire someone in their own company, remember that each person there knows other people. More people find jobs through a network of acquaintances than any other way. Treat each person with the same respect that you would give to someone who had the power to hire you.

Filed Under: Society, Volunteering Tagged With: Business, Employment, Job Search, Opportunities, Philanthropy, Skill, Small business, volunteer

Put Your Creative Side to Work by Volunteering

October 20, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Many people may not think that they have anything to offer the volunteering world. However, unusual skillets can be hard to find and in high demand. If you’re creative, you have an endless list of opportunities for volunteering.

If you’re artistic, you can put that skill to good use and expose your talents to the world. By volunteering to teach children basic art skills, you could inspire the next major art talent. You could help with an art therapy group if you’re interested in helping people with mental and physical challenges. If you would prefer to not work with groups of people, most museums always need volunteers to help out. Some parks and recreation departments present plays to the public for free or a small charge. You could help create scenery or design the promotional material.

You could combine your artistic abilities with other interests by volunteering with virtually any non-profit organization by helping to create pamphlets or websites. Your skills could be invaluable to their fund-raising efforts. Interesting window displays or posters could also generate a lot of community interest and reach new volunteers or clients.

Musical talent shouldn’t be overlooked. Just like there are opportunities for art teachers, schools and after-school organizations are always looking for musical presentations or instruction for their students. You could make the difference in a child’s life just by playing your favorite instrument or letting them try it out. As many schools make budget cuts, some children may find that they aren’t exposed to musical instruction unless volunteers make it possible.

Another way to use your musical or artistic talent is to volunteer at a hospice or nursing home. Many of these people need a distraction from their health problems. Some are lonely and receive few visitors. They would welcome the opportunity to simply listen to someone play an instrument or sing.

Artwork is also very soothing to some patients. It could remind them of better times or take their mind off their current situation. You could ask them to describe their favorite memory and create a piece of artwork for them to remember it by.

Filed Under: Society, Volunteering Tagged With: Health, Mental Health, Non-profit organization, Opportunities, Philanthropy, Skill, United States, volunteer

Why Volunteering is Important

October 20, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

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Most people know that there are those less fortunate out there, and most people feel bad when they hear stories of loss or hardship. However, not everyone acts on their emotions. Most people don’t realize what a difference they can make in someones life if they’d just take some time to volunteer.

With so many options available, you can choose the charity or non-profit organization that appeals to you the most, and donate your time. While numerous people are needed to do volunteer work in the soup kitchens or homeless shelters, that’s not the only volunteer options available in your local area. Teen clinics, crisis centers and women’s shelters all take volunteers on a regular basis. People also volunteer at food banks, hospitals, your local VA and nursing homes.

Even if you feel that you’re not the right person to handle needy people on a one-on-one basis, your volunteer options aren’t limited. Many non-profit organizations use people who volunteer to answer phones in their office, or call people and ask them to make donations. While phone work may sound difficult, you’re typically calling people who have donated money to the organization in the past, so they are aware that the phone calls come at some point during the year.

You’d be surprised at how much people appreciate the small things you do. Even a simple task as reading stories to the elderly is something that people greatly appreciate. Not only is doing volunteer work important to those in need, it helps you to feel better about yourself. The old saying “what goes around comes around” plays a huge role in the lives of those who do volunteer work. You’d be surprised at how your life becomes a lot less stressful just because you took the time out to help those in need.

Filed Under: Society, Volunteering Tagged With: Non-profit organization, Opportunities, Philanthropy, Soup kitchen, Specialty Travel, Travel, United States, volunteer