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Everyone wants to volunteer; to help in any way that they can. For some, the challenge lies in the ‘how to’. How do you find what you can do to help? How you can best put your talents to use and help out a charity that needs it? Like so many other issues, the Internet is the best place to start.

Author adminPosted on November 28, 2009December 2, 2009Categories Charities

Anne Frank’s quote, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world” embodies our readiness to serve the community and less fortunate and help to develop it. A recent survey by Gallup revealed that four out of ten adults claimed to be likely to set aside time to help people in their communities. Close to 51% expressed the likelihood to help youth, most these respondents being college graduates.

Argosy University/Washington DC is one good example. Its psychology students have put their education and skills to good use by performing practicum work, internships and other project within the community itself. During 2004, the students recorded around 160,000 hours of public service.

Dr. Cynthia Baum, President, Argosy University/Washington DC said, “Argosy University has a long history of contributing to the community. The hours of service provided by our students fill a much-needed gap to primarily underserved and low-income groups.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Robert Barrett, Chairman of Argosy University/Washington DC’s clinical psychology program said, “There are over 170 sites to where the school sends its students to do pro bono work and provide much needed services to people who normally couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to receive these services.”

Apart from this practicum program administered as pro bono, the students also volunteer at other institutions such as the Kennedy-Krieger Institute of Child and Family Therapy and the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C.
Students like the ones at the Argosy University/Washington DC have raised the bar, their dedication towards the community is exemplary and has helped them to not only develop an interest in the community’s development, but has also enabled them to improve their academic performances as well.

There is no better way to occupy your children and contribute to society as the same time, than encouraging them to take on volunteer work. Take the advice of 14-year old Sondra Clark, who is the author of five books. Her latest book ‘You Can Change Your World’ takes you through 150 volunteer projects, which are simple and easy to follow. Here are a few of them:

Bedtime Snack Sacks – children in homeless shelters almost never get snacks, let alone bedtime snacks. Take a few lunch bags, decorate them with colored markers, sequins, and glitter paint. Fill each bag with a juice tetra pack and nonperishable items such as granola bars, packaged crackers and even dried fruit. To make the snack sack even more interesting, drop in a little toy as a surprise. Drop them off at a women’s shelter, and they will do the needful.

Dog Walking Fun – A few local humane societies look out for volunteers to walk their dogs. If you feel that you have the time to contribute, simple walk in and register your family as dog walkers. Your children can also help collect old towels and newspapers, which you can give to animal shelters.

Fancy Flowers – if your school or local charity has flowers growing around its entrance, why not offer to water and weed the flowers every month?

Outdoor Clean-up – if you and your children are into gardening, perhaps you could contact the local Parks and Recreation Department and check if they need any help on trail cleanups. Your children can even volunteer to help staff pick up litter and help preserve park facilities.

Entertainment – if your children have dramatic or musical talents, encourage them to round up a few friends and put together a skit, song or even a little concert, which you could present as a benefit show for a local charity.

Giving money to charities is not the only way or the best way to support a nonprofit. A survey of 1,000 American adults, carried about by the national Thrivent Financial for Lutherans revealed that nearly twice as many people say it is more important to volunteer rather than simply give money to a charity. The survey also stated the most Americans donated based on their belief in an organization’s work and mission.

More than 50% of Americans also believe that volunteering is more important than giving money, while 22% of them stated that giving money was more important. 23% of the surveyed population said that volunteering time and giving money to a nonprofit were both equally important.

Brad Hewitt, Senior Vice President of Charitable Programs and Volunteerism for Thrivent Financial said, “Volunteering engages people emotionally and experientially. Americans are looking for opportunities to gain new experiences and develop relationships while doing good for others. Volunteering fulfills that need in a way that simply writing a check cannot.”

Thrivent Financial is an organization that boasts more than 14million hours of volunteer service clocked in last year by its members. The organization also sponsored more than 63,000 community service activities last year. Hewitt further said that they are looking for volunteers in almost every strata of community life and said that people should not limit their choices to only schools, nursing homes and sports programs. He says, “The key is for people to find their passion and then commit their energy to serving others.”

There are quite a number of families around the world who suffer everyday from hunger and poverty and can barely imagine where their next meal is coming from. A donation of livestock might help them sustain themselves, and through Heifer International, you can do just this. For the last sixty years or so, Heifer International has provided farm animals and training in sustainable agriculture practices to poor families. You too can help fund all or part of this cost.

Goat $120
Llama $150
Water Buffalo $250
Heifers $500
Chicken, duck, geese $20
Hive of honeybees $30

Here is how the program works:

1. Instead of shopping for meaningless gifts, donate any farm animal, be it a sheep, cow or anything else in honour of someone close to your heart. It could be your mother, father – anyone! This is the opportunity for you to start a special family tradition.
2. Once you make the donation, that beneficiary family gets a gift card which describes the generous contribution you have made for them.
3. Your donation has put one more family in self-sustaining position. Once they complete the training and have prepared the necessary facilities, they receive the animal you helped provide.
4. The animal you helped provide will help the family with wool or milk or transportation or eggs. Surplus products will be sold by the family to provide them with an extra income which can then go on to fund school supplies, medicine and other expenses.
5. Every animal received via Heifer International’s program comes with promise – which is that the family will pass on the gift by giving the animal’s first female offspring to another family. This way, your gift has a rippling effect for many years.