Do you work with a specific community or organization, or just take opportunities as they come up?
What type of volunteer work do you like to do? Do you like the stuff where you are just a warm body - someone to hold a sign or greet people? Or more involved tasks that are more like professional work? What about shudders door knocking?
I am still active at my local scouts troop. I’m not a group leader anymore (not enough time), though I’m responsible for the courses for new group leaders (those that are needed to start being a group leader in my scouts organization). Also I was the main author of our new song book and play guitar for the kids on various camps.
Besides that I currently try to get politically active with a leftist party here. Though I’m not sure, what I can contribute. We will see.
What crosses my mind again and again for quite a while now is joining or creating a neighborhood help group. Something to help people locally and tie the neighborhood together. Though I’m unsure on how to start that, find other people that would like to join, and also not sure about my own time constrains. Don’t want to overwork myself with volunteering.
For anyone reading who needs help finding a group to help chip in with: check if you have a local Food Not Bombs chapter near you. They’re a grassroots movement that helps feed whoever needs food on a regular schedule.
Alternatively, if you have a local Mutual Aid group (search your town/city name + ‘mutual aid’ to find them, or refer to this more in-depth guide if that fails), I’m sure they’d appreciate some help too! :)
It’s not quite volunteer work, but still donate to food banks seasonally, or monthly when I’m able to. I don’t make a lot of money but I still donate what I can.
I had some crashes in life, I had to rely on food banks. I now give back. It feels amazing. I think a lot of people are afraid of the feelings involved honestly, it’s a strong emotional ride when you donate stuff and see the faces of the people waiting in line for food, toiletries and things like socks and underwear.
I think many people really don’t like knowing that other people suffer. Much easier to pretend that suffering doesn’t exist by not interacting with it. But once you overcome that hurdle of realizing that suffering exists, then there’s so much joy to be found in being able to actually eliminate some of it.
Big time. Most related to native plants. A lot of it is manual labor but there is a fair amount of conceptual work too.
yeah i volunteer a lot. i do tasks that require knowledge and professional skills that actively contribute to make life better for everyone. i have done training for it and for it for years.
i don’t do political stuff or homeless stuff, which is what most people seem to think volunteering is? and it makes people mad when they assume that and i say that’s not what i do, i explain what i do, they tell me how stupid it is that I’m not getting paid for what I do… because well there are people who do what i do for volunteering that do get paid for it…
I started out fostering cats (mostly kittens) a few years ago. I switched to a different organization a little while back, and started also volunteering for a variety of administrative tasks in addition to fostering. I love the cats, but would like to get more regular in person human interaction.
I was a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary for 10 years. It’s a branch of the USCG made up entirely of civilian volunteers. We train to perform many of the same things the USCG does with the exception of law enforcement. I’ve done everything from tow broken down boats to searching for missing boats/people to escorting warships and tankers through harbors to providing security at fireworks and tall ship parades.
I check JustServe to see what’s available in my area. I do a monthly volunteer thing at a food pantry 30 minutes away. I’ve been wanting to look more into what volunteer stuff my town offers and possibly do more usher volunteer work like I did for the local community college.
Is JustServe alright? The context I learned about it was Mr Beast teaming up with the LDS church, and I wasn’t sure if it was a Mormon thing or not.
One of my favorite things in college was checking out my fraternity chapters website for volunteer sign ups. It was fun to have a menu of opportunities every weekend. It would be nice to just go to an app or something instead of just trying to tune my Facebook algorithm.
Food pantries are great. One of the few good deeds in the world where the impact is something you can very directly see.
I like it a lot. I was recommended it by my therapist as a way to meet people and make friends. Hasn’t exactly worked out for me in that regard, but it has helped me get out of the house every now and then.
I’ve done stuff like building parks, search and rescue, maintaining trails, and a few other things that I guess you could describe as warm body where I was a guide of sorts.
I started doing it because my mom wanted me to do something when I was a teenager and kept doing it because I liked it and it looks good on a resume.
Who knows? Maybe I’ll retire and become a park ranger or something one day.
I volunteer usually doing horticultural related work on restoration projects and in urban farm spaces.
This includes everything from planting to weeding and even sees construction of things like garden beds and other platforms for growing
I was just thinking I would love to volunteer regularly. Completely forgot that the position I have within the org for my favorite hobby is actually a volunteer position. I joke I do the least that gets called an organizer.
While not really a volunteer position, I do spend a chunk of my free time picking up litter in my area. From snack wrappers to cigarette butts to midnight ditch tips, I’ve done it all.
I used to do that at my previous job and used to chuck it up to being good for the business if the boss asked, but in reality, I just liked seeing the street clean while getting paid for it.
Similarly, I use company equipment to pick up the larger amounts of trash or furniture items.
A commercial vehicle backed into a ditch has had the side effect of attracting a few police from time to time, but it’s never been any trouble. No clue if it helps the business in terms of image, but it sure helps me feel better.
Do you have a stabby stick, or do you just wear gloves?
Generally just gloves since most of what I come across is either too small or too large for a picker. They’re also not too useful when there’s a lot to be picked up. Tends to be faster to use a shovel sometimes.
Volunteer firefighter.
Drive the 3000L truck or 1000L tender. Run hoses to hydrant. Use mounted water cannon, or run hoses out. Put out, scrub, bush, structure, or vehicle fires. Rescue puppies from drains.
Getting plenty of training, learning lots of different equipment, have a good team currently.
Eg. Last week at training, I tried out the ‘Hot Stick’ high-voltage detector. For finding live wires, beeps when high current closeby.
Similar to this one.
That sound like so much fun!
It really is.
I felt like I knew small fires pretty well, previously.
It is an eye-opener to learn more about large fire behaviour, backburning, and fire suppression methods.
Things like, a leaf-blower can be used on slow moving grass fires to blow them out.
I volunteer at an “intergenerational meetup” and try to explain to older folks how computers and the Internet work. Every two weeks for 2 hours.
Did door knocking as a child to collect money for war memorials in Germany.
This is my least favorite activity.
That said, I think it’s because the people I do it with are not willing to learn.
It’s different from IT support for e.g. my mom. It’s also more in the form of lectures and I might give a little IT support afterwards.
For sure. The more I thought about it the more I thought that was likely. Good on ya tho
I volunteer on the board of an arts nonprofit
As someone who works for an arts nonprofit: thank you!
