Do you volunteer in your community?

Yes. I’m an officer for a civic organization that supports local and international charity causes. I volunteer at the town garden. I’m on the board of directors for a town festival that has over 20,000 visitors.

I volunteer at a bookstore that’s part of a large chain of thrift stores that use the profits to fund food shelves. But the main reason I do that is to get experience to put on a resume.

Whenever I can. My school schedule is extremely busy right now, but I do find time to help special needs students navigate the campus and carry their books, and I do tutor a lot of freshmen.

Yes. Volunteer ambulance service for 7 years. It was one of the most educational and rewarding experiences in my life.

I was a trained Crisis Center counselor for a year, working four hours each Sunday answering phone calls by women and men in crisis at the womens’ shelter . The women lived there after being abused by their s/o’s but usually went back to them.

I used to when I was younger. Every weekend I would go to my uncle’s church and help cook breakfast for homeless/struggling families. I have a lot of good memories from it. When I was in a band we would often go play at charity events or volunteer to play. I’ve also done some community service at an animal shelter and a soup kitchen.

I haven’t done anything recently, though. I should.

I just started volunteering for PAWS LA which helps the elderly and the sick be able to keep their pets. Now that I am not working I have more time and less money so I have to switch my support from monetary to physical labor.

LIke @tinyfaery I started volunteering when I lost a job. My immediate reaction was, “damn, I have been missing out all these years! This is great!”

I was spending my days interviewing and sending out resumes and getting rejected. Then I walk in the door of the neighborhood food pantry and immediately they put me to work alongside the best bunch of people I’ve met in a very long time.

Now it’s a habit, one night a week. We feed several hundred people. Obviously our guests are having a tough time – and yet everybody is polite, patient and friendly.

This will sound cliche and maybe trite, but I really do get more back than I give. I feel lucky for the opportunity.

I help build houses for Habitat for Humanity, and will begin next week to volunteer for the Coalition to Unchain Dogs building fences.

I help out at a local homeless shelter as a babysitter and activities supervisor for the young children who aren’t of school age.
I also help find affordable housing, and jobs for the parents.
I really love what I do. Making a difference in their lives makes me happy.

I was a volunteer firefighter/EMT for 3 years, then left as the department transitioned from volunteer to career firefighters. Pretty fun until the last six months.

I began to volunteer when I was a teenager at home. When I went to college, I volunteered less, but if I could find a way I still would. Then when I was 22 I suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury. That left me unable to work, and ultimately put me on disability. Because now I’m able to drive again and not working put me close to suicide, I turned to volunteering. I can still volunteer a few hours a week. It gets me out of my house and interacting with people, and allows me to make a difference by volunteering with the Red Cross.