What does volunteering mean to you? Does it mean passing out food to the homeless, giving TLC to dogs at the animal shelter or picking up garbage by the side of the road? All of these are accurate examples of volunteerism, but the real question is what kind of volunteering is meaningful to you in your life?
Let's start by going over the dictionary definition: Oxford dictionary defines “volunteer” as a person who does a job willingly without being paid for it and “ism” refers to a set of ideas or system of beliefs or behavior. Putting both of them together, we can read “Volunteerism” as a system of beliefs or behavior related to people who do a job or service willingly without being paid for it.
So what would you be willing to do on your free time AND not get paid for it?
Consider some of these questions:
Do you want to help the world or your community? Do you want to build your own skills, make new friends, and learn? Do you love what you do? Do you want to share your gifts with others or give something back?
Next, try out these few steps:
* Choose an organization that is meaningful to you.
OR create your own organization! ... Like we did with GLINC ;)
* Seek out an organization and tasks within it that suit your skills and interests.
* Start small. If you have a busy schedule, just try volunteering for an hour or two a few times out of the month until you decide if you like it enough to commit to more time.
* Explain your own background and preferences to those in charge. They can help to match you with meaningful, suitable tasks, but only if they know a bit about who you are.
* Never give up. The first organization or activity you do may not be the one for you. Keep on looking because it's important that you do something that you LOVE. The more you enjoy it, the more you'll accomplish!
* Lastly, HAVE FUN! Volunteering can social and entertaining!
And, of course, there is always GLINC! Volunteers help our organization grow!
Here are some sites to help you in your new journey:
http://www.volunteermatch.org
www.idealist.org
Happy hunting!
Melissa
Let's start by going over the dictionary definition: Oxford dictionary defines “volunteer” as a person who does a job willingly without being paid for it and “ism” refers to a set of ideas or system of beliefs or behavior. Putting both of them together, we can read “Volunteerism” as a system of beliefs or behavior related to people who do a job or service willingly without being paid for it.
So what would you be willing to do on your free time AND not get paid for it?
Consider some of these questions:
Do you want to help the world or your community? Do you want to build your own skills, make new friends, and learn? Do you love what you do? Do you want to share your gifts with others or give something back?
Next, try out these few steps:
* Choose an organization that is meaningful to you.
OR create your own organization! ... Like we did with GLINC ;)
* Seek out an organization and tasks within it that suit your skills and interests.
* Start small. If you have a busy schedule, just try volunteering for an hour or two a few times out of the month until you decide if you like it enough to commit to more time.
* Explain your own background and preferences to those in charge. They can help to match you with meaningful, suitable tasks, but only if they know a bit about who you are.
* Never give up. The first organization or activity you do may not be the one for you. Keep on looking because it's important that you do something that you LOVE. The more you enjoy it, the more you'll accomplish!
* Lastly, HAVE FUN! Volunteering can social and entertaining!
And, of course, there is always GLINC! Volunteers help our organization grow!
Here are some sites to help you in your new journey:
http://www.volunteermatch.org
www.idealist.org
Happy hunting!
Melissa