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How do you volunteer your time?
As some of y'all know, I moved recently to NYC (Brooklyn specifically) and now that I've settled in a bit more, I was wondering about volunteering my time to help out the less fortunate, especially with the holidays and everything going on with the government shutdown.
I've been juggling the thought of doing a soup kitchen or something but just wondering if anyone else had any interesting/unique/critical need things that they do! I hardly do volunteering unfortunately, always was more of a donating my money kinda guy.
I did fairly well on my SAT's, (10 years ago so idk how much help I can be) but I was thinking of volunteering to teach kids or something but not too sure if a weekly commitment is too much for me or not.
Offbeat ideas:
Aside from volunteering vets and foster homes, a lot of shelters also need people who come to hang out, socialize and befriend the little friends waiting for foster homes or forever homes. Sometimes foster's don't drive and need a driver to get to them or to vets. Sometimes it's just nice to see a friendly face when one is recovering from being abandoned.
1b. Animal photographer / Social Media Manager
A great set of photos and a fun bio really, really boost their ability to find forever homes. Cannot be understated how important this is. And if one of these bios go viral, the entire charity get a media spotlight, sponsorships and donations.
Hang out, listen to chatter, roll your eyes at 67, be an example of a normal functioning adult with emotional maturity.
Sometimes they just need an hour a month to talk about sidewalks or installing a new bench of organizing Christmas lights coin drive
If you have a hobby that has annual or frequent parties, being an enforcer or volunteer greeter could be a great way to meet behind the scene nerds
Regular stuff
Always need people, especially now, but can be very low commitment. There are also positions where you don't ever interact with the community members in need, just back room box packing. There are drivers who deliver or to collect from restaurants.
Get to know your options is of benefit to yourself as well. I do a thing that's just fill in forms over the phone, very very low commitment. Oh!! Are you fit enough to be a volunteer fire fighter?
They do a lot of good work around every community, often visiting the sick or elderly, and those in prison or those in most need
Fun way to get free entry to your favourite local things
+1 for animal shelters. I've been fostering dogs, puppies, and kittens for the past few years and it's a wonderful experience. Kittens are especially dopamine-inducing and typically low maintenance. Behold the cuteness of my current little buddy. If you work from home and/or have a partner to split duties with, it will hardly make a dent in your schedule (aside from pickup/dropoff and the occasional vaccine run).
The season is probably over in a colder climate like NYC, but come spring there will be a lot of tiny little dweebs looking for a place to crash for a few weeks before they find a home.
Do you have a pet? Just curious if fosters would let me because I have a (very enthusiastic and a bit too friendly) pomsky already.
I do. I have two cats that I eventually adopted after fostering, and they still let me foster despite my failures. Years ago, I fostered puppies while having grown dogs, but I wasn't in a city and had more space available. Every agency is different, but it's usually about the space available. If you have a space that can be specifically allocated for your fosters, you should be good.
If you already have pets, that fact goes on the foster's "resume" as a plus. Other people who are looking to add an additional pet would be specifically looking for animals that are socialised enough to get along with other animals. Please ask the rescue :D
[incoherent noises from being blasted by cuteness] that tiny galaxy fabric cone!! I didn't know that was a thing, do the little meow-muffins like them?
I didn't either, but this little fella had to get a portion of his deformed tail amputated and has been rockin the cosmos cone during his recovery. The galaxy cone wasn't his favorite, but wasn't hated either. He got it dirty a few times so I ended up getting him a backup that he seems to favor.
I joined a local Unitarian Universalist congregation a few years back and ended up volunteering as a member of the tech committee. Most of my volunteering is through that role. Running the sound board, run the "projector" (it's a big-ass TV) during service, maintaining the website, making tech-related decisions, etc.
But through that work, I have access to a lot of other volunteer opportunities the church participates in (Pride, food banks, animal ministry, etc). Granted I haven't done a lot of that, because I'm a socially anxious goofball and I prefer doing behind-the-scenes stuff. Plus I don't live in the same town as the church, so it's a bit of a commute to be traveling there more than once or twice a week.
Which isn't to say that if you're interested in volunteering, you necessarily should run out and find yourself a church, but instead try to find an organization that does widespread volunteer work. I'm sure they need the help and they're bound to have something you're interested in. Or even just find a person locally you know does volunteer work and I'm sure they have the connections with other volunteers and organizations.
I volunteer at a local hackerspace. I teach how to use the equipment there, clean up, reorganize, give tours, and a lot more. We have a radical open door policy and don't require dues to make use of the space. Anyone that steps inside is a member. We have people of all races, genders, income levels, backgrounds, countries, etc. Whenever I have some tech I don't need any more I offer it to someone who I've noticed might need it most. I got a new laptop last year and kept seeing one of our members struggling with ancient slow laptops and give my old one to him. He's still using it and it's clearly getting a lot of use from him. Same goes for any tech I'd rather not hold onto or any good food I don't need. It's really nice to have a place where I can be generous whenever I want to be.
I like that I don't just get back a feeling of doing good, but I also get a vibrant community and a much needed 3rd space.
When I have free time, I like to volunteer with elderly folks or the homeless but only in roles where my time is primarily spent getting to know people, building connection, and helping people forgotten by society feel more connected and less lonely.
But I think it's inefficient to donate pure labor. If you're a working professional, you should just make money doing what you're good at and donate that money to allow the org hire workers who are good at what they do. It's just more efficient that way. Unless you find the labor fun — I've volunteered with parks to do various landscaping work but really only as fun physical exercise. I did Habitat for Humanity for a short while but then I wised up and realized it was a waste of time, and that they should just let real professionals build houses.
I have bad news for you about working professionals making enough money to donate anything of significance. Plus, working professionals often keep office hours and thus have evenings and weekends free. Someone has to unload or pack boxes at the food pantry, or staff it on open days (I really enjoyed doing this at our one near campus) or walk the dogs at the shelter. Paying professionals is often not an option and certainly often less efficient than using that money elsewhere. A community can repaint park benches or pick up trash along a roadside without needing a professional.
There are times and places where money is more efficient and plenty of others where everyone's time/labor is pretty much equally valuable regardless of their salaries.
Alternatively, donate professional knowledge, like @hamstergeddon doing Audio Visual volunteering
I definitely donate money, but I feel like I've been having some more free time and I want to start avoiding sitting at home for too too long pretty much.
I'd say look around at your local neighborhood's services. I liked volunteering at the local student food pantry probably the most of the things I've done. But if you're up for working with the homeless where they're at for example you'll want to connect with a local group anyway. Check a library for posters for volunteer opportunities or community nonprofits on social media!
I also enjoyed canvassing (less, but still) for local candidates. But getting involved there too can be helpful.
Oh one thing I really really want to do, when I have the capacity, is to volunteer through No One Dies Alone - you're tapped to sit with people who are dying in shifts so that when they do, they have someone with them. I don't have the time right now and I don't know if every hospital has this or used a different name but it's definitely something different.
Our library (nowhere near you) has an after school tutoring program. I'd be surprised if there wasn't something either with the schools or the library.
My daughter does a lot of programs at the boys and girls club, and I know they can use volunteers as well.
You may have to get your clearances to work with kids. I don't know how it is in NY, but in PA, there's a state component that's just a form, and usually free if the org requiring it gives you a code or whatever. Once I started volunteering in my daughter's school there was an additional step where I had to go to the UPS store and get fingerprinted. I thinknitncost around $30 and should be good for several years.
I volunteer on a couple government boards in my community. They're elected positions, but completely unpaid.
There's lots of work to go around, and if you have a level head on your shoulders, you can do a little civic duty. I got into it by being appointed as an alternate at first so I didn't have an election the first time.
I did zero campaigning. Maybe I'll run again when my term ends, dunno. But if I do and I lose, that'll be fine, too. It's so frustrating to be a part of all of this. But honestly it feels important to chip in so I might keep doing it.
Our community has an organization for volunteer caregivers. The name makes it sound like a huge commitment, but they match what you’re capable of doing/ want to do with elderly in the community. A lot of the jobs are one offs, like helping someone get to an appointment or picking up a prescription. But there’s also opportunities to just go hang out with an elderly person who desires human connection. I got to hang out with this 97 year old guy named Dan. I’d go over to his house a couple times a month and play cards and shoot the shit. He was crotchety and funny, but also really lonely because he had out lived most of his family and friends. Eventually he needed 24 hour care and went to a home near his grand daughter. It was a rewarding experience.
I volunteer with our school district's FIRST robotics team, not as much as of late, but with new hours I can give some time, keep some skills sharp, get out of the house a bit, and the reason we all volunteer, argue with the other mentors about best practices.
I'm happy to see a thread asking for input on what to do with our free time. I've recently been laid off, and it's given me some time to think more about what I want to do with my life. And to think about what might actually be meaningful to me. It brought me to thinking about signing up to substitute teach in my local school system. It's not by definition a volunteer position, since it's paid, but my understanding is that most districts are hard pressed to find decent coverage when teachers are absent. That said, it's been a lot of soul searching for me to conclude that education is something that is very meaningful to me. That, along with the idea of providing children with a healthy, patient and understanding role model, stood out to me as the way I could pursue meaning in my life. Long term, I want to use the opportunity to see if being a career educator would make me happy, despite offering lower pay than I could get in my usual line of work. I don't think it would necessarily look like this for most people, but it's been a lifelong issue for me to understand what I actually find meaningful. I knew that for me it wasn't the standard responses and examples people give. The key for me was delving into why I felt afraid to do it. I came to the realization that I was scared I might be bad at it, and that was actually because it's something I legitimately care about.
So, whatever you volunteer your time for, try to find something you're passionate about.
We have a local program that volunteers can sign up for to give people rides to medical appointments or grocery shopping or the like. Since I live in a pretty rural area, there's certainly no public transportation so volunteer networks like this are important. It's 15 miles to the nearest hospital and 10 or so to a pharmacy depending on where you are, and some folks would be home bound without the help.
I am also part of a public sector union and volunteer a fair bit of my time for the union, both in my particular workplace and also for the statewide union. This is a little different than some of the other volunteer opportunities mentioned above because I also directly benefit from a strong union, but considering that almost none of us get paid for the time we contribute to the union I still consider it volunteer time.