I suppose as women we have kids because we have this innate feeling of striving to make a difference and having an impact on something greater than ourselves. However, that feeling may never feel completely satisfied and as a result we are continuously yearning for ways to continue to make a difference in our neighborhoods, workplaces, or communities. The challenge is finding the time with all the regular responsibilities we are balancing to exercise our philanthropic desires.
I am fortunate that my employer facilitates a quarterly employee volunteer day. I had the opportunity to participate in one of these volunteer days yesterday. Our assignment was to work at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore (www.habitat.org) which is a resale outlet that collects donations such as house fixtures and resells the items to help fund Habitat for Humanity house construction. There are several ReStore locations nationwide and a majority of the stores are run by volunteers who work daily to stock and organize merchandise or work the store floor.
There are so many wonderful organizations that are in desperate need of help and thrive on volunteer support. Most organizations will take as much or as little time that people can give. Outside of the volunteer days scheduled by my employer, I rarely find time anymore to volunteer. As a result, I have researched volunteer options that include the ability to volunteer from home by providing online support or pro bono services. Organizations such as icouldbe.org allow you to be an online mentor for neglected high school students. As a volunteer, you can mentor up to 5 students online throughout the school year. You have the opportunity to communicate weekly with your mentees by sending emails and reviewing progress against activities that are developed as part of the icouldbe curriculum. The nice part about this program is that you can participate on your own schedule as long as you check in with your mentees weekly and provide regular feedback.
In addition to online volunteer programs, organizations are always looking for people who possess relevant skills to contribute on a pro bono basis. For example, my educational and professional experience are in marketing so I have helped one organization in particular, the US VETS DC develop and execute a marketing and outreach program to raise awareness and generate donations for the organization. Almost any non-profit would welcome similar support or other services such as accounting, legal, general consulting or financial advice.
My kids are not old enough yet, but in an effort to increase my ability to volunteer and to teach my kids the importance of giving back to their communities, in the future I intend to seek out volunteer activities that we can do together as a family. There are vast opportunities for parents and their kids to volunteer together in the community. Organizations or activities might include planting a tree for a school, playing games at the local retirement home, working at a pet adoption fair, cleaning up a local park, distributing flyers to generate outreach for an organization or passing out water at a race. The activity could be organized through an official organization or it could be an activity you decide to do as a family by gathering some friends and neighbors to make a difference.
Whatever your passion, there is likely to be an organization or activity where you can donate your time to make a difference. If your passion is kids, find a local hospital, school or park that might need help. Organizations such as The Children’s Inn at NIH (www.childrensinn.org), The Nation’s Children’s Hospital (www.childrensnational.org), or the March of Dimes (www.marchofdimes.com) are great organizations to seek out to learn about volunteer opportunities. If your passion is the environment, try the Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org) or the Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org) . If your passion is animals check out the National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org), or The Humane Society (www.humanesociety.org). If your passion is health or helping to fight a prevalent disease try the Lance Armstrong Foundation (www.livestrong.org), Susan G. Komen Organization (ww5.komen.org), National Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), or the Michael J Fox Foundation (www.michaeljfox.org).
If you can’t spare time right now, you can still make a difference. Donate money, run a race to raise money or just become educated about an important cause and be an evangelist in the community for that cause. At the least you can strive to make a difference everyday at home and with everyone you encounter so that your positive attitude is contagious and encourages others to do their small part to make the world a better place.
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