Photo Courtesy | Serve.org
What interests you? And where would you like to volunteer?
I admit to often shying away from materials that say “volunteer opportunity,” but this summer is different. This is the “Summer of Service” and it is time I did my part.
United We Serve, running from June 22 to September 11, is the Obama administration’s means of calling on all Americans to help facilitate the country’s revitalization. The heart of the project is based online. The Web site, Serve.gov, acts as a meet-up hub where volunteers and coordinators can find and post service projects. It is a great way to find exactly what you are looking for, and you may even surprise yourself, as I did, at how easy it is to use.
When I entered the site I looked under the title I usually cringe at, “Find a Volunteer Opportunity,” and saw that the first question listed was, “What interests you?” Perhaps not really wanting to find something to volunteer for, I cynically typed in interests that I doubted would bring up results: “eating,” “sitting,” “surfing the Internet.” But who would ever guess that the need for people interested in such activities is so strong? Soon I was amazed to see myself torn between sitting with veterans on bingo night and teaching new English speakers how to use the Internet.
Anxious to get started, I could not believe how serious I had become about helping out. I chose teaching the Internet classes, and even though I had not even done anything yet, I was glad to be contributing.
As President Obama said, “Economic recovery is as much about what you're doing in your communities as what we're doing in Washington — and it's going to take all of us, working together.” It’s important to help strengthen our communities and for new volunteers such as myself, Serve.gov is a great place to start.
Serve.gov
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