Volunteer
Volunteering, have you done any? Have you thought about it, but didn’t know where to start, who to call, what the expectations were? I did. I’ve had all of those questions, even the insecurities that come with doing something new that may be a little out of my comfort zone. It’s those thoughts and fears that keep many of us from realizing God’s dream for us, his dream for the people you are sent to help. Can you imagine the difference each one of us could make in the world if we actually followed God’s prompting? Can you imagine what would happen if we did it collectively, WOW. That’s what miracles are made of. Yep, I said it, miracles. We are his instrument, his messenger. Does he need us to bring a miracle to pass? Not at all. I have to wonder though, who benefits more, you or the people you are helping? Ask anyone who volunteers and I bet you will get the same answer from most of them, the gift is in the giving.
I’ve included some of the resources I use for volunteering. Some of these are national, some local. For the most part, the content has been taken from the organizations website.
- If you have a suggestion or resource for volunteers, by all means, drop us a line.
- If you want to share an experience you’ve had when volunteering, something that changed your outlook, again, drop us a line.
So, what are you waiting for? Just do it!
This is the most amazing resource for the volunteer and any organization the uses volunteers or has a program for their employees to volunteer. I use it on a regular basis to find local volunteer opportunities for the people in my church. Just plug in your zip code and you will get all of the organizations currently needing volunteers and a description of the duties and contact information. It doesn’t matter where you are in the United Stated. The search is zip code based and tailored to your search.
Also within the site are personal stories from volunteers, local, national, international and virtual volunteer opportunities. You can look at all of the non-profits that list with VolunteerMatch. If your employer or your business is considering starting a volunteer program, this is the place for you. In addition to all of the information available to corporations, your company can have a brand designed volunteer page, or portal for their search, employee experiences, hours tracking and a multitude of other tools. It really is awesome. This is my number one volunteer resource!
Here are more volunteer resources. Search for opportunities, share stories, find speakers or join a group of people who have the same heart for people that you do.
http://www.allforgood.org/http://www.helpindisaster.org
On a more local level, here are links to organizations in and around the Oakland County, Michigan area that utilize a volunteer workforce. Visit our “Charities You Are Helping” page for details on some of the organizations listed below.
http://www.lighthouseoakland.org/ Lighthouse of Oakland County emergency services, food, clothing, housing, life skills.
http://habitatoakland.org/ Habitat For Humanity
http://www.rainbowwishconnection.org grants the wishes of Michigan children facing a life threatening health crisis.
http://volunteer.united-e-way.org United Way
www.gracecentersofhope.org Grace Centers of Hope homeless shelter, substance abuse recovery program, Christian based.
http://www.haven-oakland.org HAVEN serves the community through a series of innovative intervention, treatment, prevention and education programs. Select a program below to learn more about our efforts to eliminate domestic violence and sexual assault.
www.olhsa.org/ OLHSA (Oakland Livingston Human Services Organization) enables the low-income, elderly and disabled living in Oakland and Livingston Counties to become more self-sufficient.
http://ciageneseeco.org/ Christmas In Action provides home repairs for low income seniors on it’s annual, last Saturday in April blizt.
http://www.oxfordorionfish.org Oxford/Orion FISH provides emergency aid, financial services and agency referrals to individuals in: Oxford, Lake Orion, Addison and Oakland Townships.
We all have a cause we care about whether it’s finding a cure for cancer, saving the environment, finding homes for abandoned pets or so many other worthwhile endeavors. But what we don’t all have is the time or money to support these efforts as much as we’d like. So, what if we could raise money for our favorite charities and schools by doing something we do every day searching the Internet?
GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50-percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It’s a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it’s powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search results. The money GoodSearch donates to your cause comes from its advertisers the users and the organizations do not spend a dime!
In 2007, GoodSearch was expanded to include GoodShop, an online shopping mall of over 900 top online world-class merchants dedicated to helping fund worthy causes across the country. Each purchase made via the GoodShop mall results in a donation to the user’s designated charity or school averaging approximately 3% of the sale, but going up to 20% or even more.
This is a great resource for those of you who go on international mission trips. Thru fly for good, you can arrange the flight for your whole group, or just you. The website has links on travel, documentation needed, luggage requirements, individual and organization sign-ups, a volunteer trip finder and just about anything else you need information on when you travel for mission trips.
Discount travel for volunteers.
The Fly for Good team has done humanitarian work in over 100 countries across the globe. We know your needs because we have been there and will be able to assist you with first-hand knowledge.
After starting multiple travel businesses and our own humanitarian non-profit organization, we combined our passions for travel and humanitarian work by negotiating airfare discounts of 10% to 25% off the published rate for non-profits, their family members and their volunteers.
Each quarter, Fly for Good picks a humanitarian project to donate a portion of their profits. So every time you fly for good, you are not only directly helping people in your world, you are helping people all over the world.
It’s our little way of spreading the good. http://www.flyforgood.com
