Donating Time – The Spirit of Volunteerism

admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:09:12 +0000

There will come a point in our life where we suddenly feel the urge to touch other people’s lives. However, instead of doing so, we back off because of issues in the budget. Well, if we can’t afford to donate financially, we always have our time to donate and spare. This is what we call as the spirit of volunteerism – giving our hand where it most counts. Volunteer work gives us the chance to share our skills and talents to other people who most need it. It gives us the opportunity to change other people’s lives and perhaps, even change ours as well. Volunteering is the life blood of most underdeveloped countries. Doing volunteer works will let you experience a different and fascinating culture; it will let your realize the importance of things that are sometimes taken for granted. One can do volunteering in his community or in other underdeveloped countries. Tasks may range from teaching special skills, assisting the elderly, the orphans and widows, and the abused children. Mostly, volunteer works are offered to graduating high school students in the United States as a requirement for graduation; it is usually offered during summer vacation. Sometimes, a news report about natural disaster and catastrophe motivate others to offer volunteer work. In the US alone, there are a lot of areas in which one can offer voluntary works. However, one needs to know few things first before donating his time so that the whole volunteering thing can be successful. Finding Your Interests Different people may have different interests so it is best to offer voluntary work where you are interested in. Here are some: - Helping the children – if you are fond of kids, you can volunteer for a camp counselor for kids with special needs or a volunteer for some outdoor after-school activities. - Holiday offer – you can offer Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless, give toys to street kids during the holidays, or even help in the church for some holiday chores. - Pet time – if your interest is into pets and animals, then this is a good time to volunteer to your local animal shelter and help them work out on rescued cats and dogs. - Election volunteer – if your interest is in politics, then it’s a good way to learn by volunteering inside the camp of your favorite candidate. - Environmental cause – if you love nature, then join and volunteer into environmental and preservation groups. Helping in clean-up and tree planting activities are good for the nature. - Health volunteer – If you have the sympathy for the sick and the ill-ones, then offering your time for an organization that helps them is very much appreciated. There are a lot of volunteers works out there, choose those that best suits your interests and skills. If you want to do multiple volunteer works, make sure you can combine them in such a way that you still manage your time. Check Your Schedule Since volunteerism demands your time, it is best to know that the volunteer work that inspires you also fits your schedule. It is important that you give an ample amount of time for this volunteer work so that it will be successful. Finding the Right Organization After choosing the type of volunteer work that interests you and the right schedule, it is now time to look for that organization that you will offer your time to. In doing so, you must ask some questions to volunteer coordinators as well as answer some questions from them. You must answer some questions like: - Why do you want to volunteer? - How many hours can you offer in the organization? - What do you know about the organization? - What interests you? - What are your special skills? On the other hand, you can ask questions like: - What are their expectations from you as a volunteer? - What are the trainings you will undergo? - Are there any other volunteers? - How many hours will the organization demand from you? If you are already accepted and start to do volunteer work, enjoy your tasks. Learn new skills from the work, mingle with people, and meet new friends. Change your life and change others’ too – after all, this is what volunteerism is all about.

Widows and Orphans

Donating Time – The Spirit of Volunteerism