Volunteer in DC
Looking for a cool place to volunteer, but having a hard time deciding where? The Washington City Paper had readers poll to find out where the best places to volunteer in 2011 are. Here were the results:
1. AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly - Provides free legal and social work services to those in need. According to their website, volunteers can be retired people, undergraduate students, law students, retired attorneys and attorneys between jobs or careers
2. Potomac Conservancy - A land trust dedicated to preserving the scenic and natural Potomac River. Volunteer opportunities include hands-on outdoor activities, river center guides, administrative volunteers, photographers and videographers.
3. Food & Friends - Provides meals, groceries and nutrition counseling to people living with life-challenging illnesses such as AIDS and cancer. Volunteer areas of interest: deliver meals & friendship, slide & dice, administrative help, special events, group volunteers, Thanksgiving week and day, etc.
Happy volunteering!
Volunteering in America
10 Fun Facts from Volunteering in America:
1. 62.8 million adults served almost 8.1 billion hours through organizations in 2010. We know. The outrageous numbers are hurting our heads, too.
2. Generation X (born 1965-1981) gave more than 2.3 billion hours of their time volunteering. That’s more than double the rate since 1989!
3. The term “volunteer lifecycle” is the civic involvement that tends to increase as citizens feel a deeper connection to their communities through personal networks, their workplace and their children’s schools.
4. Volunteer rates for young adults (ages 20-24) tend to be lower than teenage volunteer rates…
5. …However, the national volunteer rate tends to increase with age until mid-life, with the peak age occurring between the mid-30s to early 40s!
6. The top 5 states by volunteer rates are: Utah, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.
7. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan ranks number one for volunteerism among large cities…for the fifth year in a row. Congrats!
8. Governors and mayors are actively encouraging volunteerism, recognizing those volunteers who make particularly large impacts.
9. Some of the activities volunteers took part in: tutoring and mentoring, selling items at auctions to raise money, and collecting and distributing food.
10. Researchers believe that the finding that the decline in volunteer rates in older adults has become less severe over time is explained by the fact that more Americans are staying healthier longer and that volunteering has become a more recognized strategy for staying healthy in older adulthood.
The myImpact Interns Volunteer!
All of us interns (and our bosses) on our office building floor hope we contributed to some Bright Beginnings for homeless children in DC yesterday.
We have been planning a service project since the beginning of the summer and all agreed we wanted to work with children. Bright Beginnings seemed like the perfect choice. Interns and supervisors from myImpact.org (obviously!) NCoC, Points of Light and Mobilize.org spent five hours playing with children, cleanings toys, helping with lunch, setting up for nap time and numerous other duties.
(One of the myImpact interns, Thien-Y, hard at work on the slide, as well as others from the non-profits on our floor)
(“Cleaning” playground equipment.)
The children were the best part of the experience! They were climbing all over us, touching our hair, holding our hands and genuinely making us feel more welcome than I typically do at family gatherings. They were all so energetic and happy, it was hard to imagine them as not having a stable home. It was very rewarding to be a part of their lives - even if it was just for the day.
(Just a couple of the great kids we had the opportunity to play with)
The staff and volunteers at Bright Beginnings were very accommodating and helpful. I would definitely recommend this organization if you are considering a group volunteer outing! The experience was very rewarding, and it’s nice to know we helped make the day a little easier for the children at Bright Beginnings.
Bright Beginnings is a child and family development center that offers a “bright start” for homeless infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families. It serves children whose families are living in crisis shelters or transitional housing. The program prepares these children for kindergarten and stabilizes their families, according to the Bright Beginnings website.
The heart of a volunteer is never measured in size, but the depth of commitment to make change in the lives of others.
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heartmob:
I did something that I normally would’ve not done. I answered a Craigslist ad for a volunteer.
How It Happened
I realized that I had some free time in the late afternoon, and wanted to see if there would be any quick-hit or micro-volunteer opportunities. Someone mentioned that Craigslist…
Craigslist isn’t just a place for buying and selling concert tickets and cheap furniture. It can be used for volunteer opportunities, too!
wanderlustersuk:
Anyone interested in volunteering should consider booking their trip through ‘Fly For Good’. Dedicated to creating opportunities for non-profit organisations they provide discounts on flights and other professional services to make it easier for volunteers to make a difference.
As an…
Discounted airfare. Perfect for a summer volunteer getaway!
exactly one year ago, today was my first day in Hohoe, Ghana. and i can tell you i miss it so much, it’s undescribable.
ashleyrose828:
igwe, african queen, shake your butt, freddy the rhino beetle, british words, eating bugs, cutting jesse’s hair against his will, penis squad, climbing the mountain, Uncle George, Edinam, Mary, Chief Drivaaaaa Emmanuel Mensa, the kids at the orphanage, Makafui, the roads, the friends…oh my god </3 my heart breaks every time i see something Ghana or Africa related and i’m not there.
Great pictures. Sounds like an amazing experience!
