Volunteering: Fact Friday – Week 8
What Is Volunteering? Volunteering is the act of giving your time, skills, and energy to support a cause, organization, or community without receiving financial compensation. It plays a vital role in strengthening communities and supporting nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, and United Way. Ways to Volunteer in Your Community There are many ways to get involved, depending on your interests, skills, and availability: 1. Community Service 2. Youth & Education 3. Health & Emergency Services 4. Environmental Efforts 5. Virtual Volunteering Benefits of Volunteering Personal Benefits Community Benefits Career Benefits How to Start Volunteering Step 1: Identify Your Interests Think about causes you care about (education, environment, health, etc.). Step 2: Assess Your Skills & Availability Determine how much time you can commit and what skills you can offer. Step 3: Research Opportunities Step 4: Apply & Complete Requirements Some roles may require: Step 5: Get Involved & Stay Committed Start small, be reliable, and communicate clearly with the organization. Quick Facts About Volunteering Pro Tip Start with one cause that genuinely interests you. Even a few hours a month can make a meaningful difference in your community.
Volunteering: Testimony Tuesday by Chelle B.
I wanted to write about volunteering because volunteering was ultimately the catalyst that started the idea of 3 Hot girls Healing and the Healing through Helping campaign the website is trying to promote. Before moving to Florida, I really didn’t know too many people who volunteered their time and resources helping people in their communities. Shortly after moving here, I met Sara G and Brenda McMahon, who showed me how much helping others has helped them remain humble, grounded, and compassionate in a world full of chaos and uncertainty. They make me want to contribute what I can to help make the world a better place, whether that be providing accurate information about controversial subjects, or helping local businesses succeed by promoting them on my website. Every little thing helps, and it’s usually the little things that add up to the big things. Sara G donates two hours a week by offering free outdoor yoga to anyone who wants to try it or can’t afford the price of a gym membership. When she first told me she did this, I remember thinking about how grateful I would have been for that opportunity before I could afford a gym membership myself, and being amazed by how few people actually took her up on that generous offer. Week after week, Sara G teaches yoga for a handful of regulars and the occasional drifter, and I have watched her grow as an instructor and shine as our fearless Yogi leader. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of her selfless acts of kindness each week, and the amazing people I have met through her yoga classes. Brenda McMahon owns an art gallery in Gulfport, FL, and is constantly giving back to her community by giving new artists a chance at success, celebrating the artists she already collaborates with, offering her artists opportunities to raise money through her gallery for hurricane relief and/or other life hardships, and contributes her time and resources to help new artists develop a passion for her talent as a ceramicist. Not only that, but Brenda treats all of her customers with the same respect as her renowned artists, creating an atmosphere filled with love and safety for anyone who enters her gallery. I appreciate and look up to Brenda as a professional who is willing to give more than she gets while spreading light and hope to the artists and customers she encounters. Volunteering is not only a great way to help others less fortunate in your community, but also a way to enrich your own life by adding compassion and a sense of purpose that’s vital in any kind of recovery. A huge part of 3 Hot girls Healing is the theme of healing through helping, and I want people to know that you don’t have to make large time commitments or monetary contributions in order to help in monumental ways. Something simple like sharing a resource could end up contributing to a job offer for a friend, changing the course of his/her life forever. Or being kind to a stranger that is contemplating suicide, giving them hope in humanity and the will to go on. I am using this extreme example because as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, I have personally heard numerous stories about clients wanting to end their lives, but having the kindness of a stranger change their minds. If everyone treated people with the same compassion and understanding they want for themselves, imagine how much kinder the world would become! There are many different ways to volunteer, such as Community Service, Youth & Education, Health and Emergency Services, Environmental Efforts, or Virtual Volunteering. Each of these categories goes into more detail in the Fact Friday Volunteering document, so readers can get a better idea of how they can help build stronger communities built on collaboration, compassion, and trust. Volunteering benefits people by providing an opportunity to enhance their personal, community, and career goals, while bonding community members with similar passions and interests. Finding your people becomes easier when you surround yourself with like-minded people, and the easiest way to do that is by volunteering your time and/or talents to those who can grow from what you already know. If you are a yoga instructor, offer to teach free yoga. If you are an artist, offer to teach a free art class. If you are a dancer, offer a free dance lesson to a clumsy friend. If you are an educator, never stop learning or teaching others what you learn. If you are a parent with free time, offer to coach your child’s sports team. If you are a therapist, listen without judgement to someone who is struggling. If you enjoy animals or children, volunteer at the humane society or a Big Brother program. Personally, I volunteered to work with adults with autism and/or disabilities as I was transitioning careers from a Special Education Teacher to my next adventure, because I didn’t know if I would have the same passion for adults as I had with children. I knew I didn’t want to work in a public school again, but still wanted to continue working with individuals with autism and/or disabilities in some capacity. Volunteering with adults instead of children introduced me to a whole other world of helping those who needed my patience and experience in a different and magical way, and ended up opening doors for me I never imagined possible. From volunteering, they offered me a paid position as a Behavior Intervention Specialist, creating a curriculum for adults with autism that was used throughout the program. Nowadays, I prefer working with adults with autism and other disabilities, and helping them maintain the skills I know they were taught in school. It gives me a whole new sense of purpose, and having purpose in life is what’s going to keep you motivated and fulfilled. Find where your passion lies and embrace it while helping others. You will end up helping yourself