Tag: advice Page 2 of 3

Top Countries To Volunteer in That Need Your Help

On August 1, 2019

Want to make a difference, but not sure where to start? Volunteering abroad can be a life-changing experience and make a positive impact on the world. You don’t have to confine yourself to United States boarders. There are many countries all over the world who need a lending hand from others. The following are the top countries that need the most support from committed volunteers.

Morocco
Morocco needs volunteers in healthcare and education. A high percentage of the country’s rural population still lives in poverty, despite a massive year-on-year commitment the government made in 2005. Volunteers seeking to make a difference in public health and women’s rights will also find ample opportunities here. Morocco follows strict Islamic customs, so volunteers should keep that in mind in their dress and behavior.

Mexico
Many immigrants come through Mexico seeking a better life in the United States. Mexico needs volunteers in healthcare and community development. People interested in biology may also be interested in joining a marine conservation project. Mexico has a sharp divide between what tourists see and experience and the daily life of its people. Pay attention to the latest warnings from the United States State Department to know which places to avoid.

Fiji
Fiji has over 300 islands. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer in ecotourism or marine conservation. Would-be teachers might look for a chance to teach English or coach local sports. English is spoken fairly widely here, so communication isn’t difficult. However, Fiji is fairly remote and expensive to get to when compared with other volunteering opportunities abroad.

Peru
Peru’s economic inequalities lead volunteers from all over to this beautiful, mountainous country. Volunteers can contribute in community development, construction, and teaching English. Be aware of the lack of modern hygiene, but don’t let that be a barrier to making a difference.

Haiti
Haiti has been pummeled by political strife and natural disasters for years. The country is still rebuilding from an earthquake in 2010. Hurricane Matthew in 2016 has set redevelopment back even further. There are plenty of ways to volunteer in disaster relief and reconstruction. Volunteers should take the time to fully educate themselves about the requirements of their chosen program before embarking on a volunteer trip to Haiti.

Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for backpackers, foodies, and adventurers. It’s also a great place to volunteer. One of the biggest ways to give back is in elephant protection. However, volunteers should seriously educate themselves about Thailand’s complicated sociopolitical situation before hopping on a plane.

How You Can Bring Change to Your Community

By Jerry Swon

On June 5, 2019

In Blog, Community

There is nothing as good as living in a place and bringing about some form of positive change. Creating an impact within your community can help to improve the lives of the locals while also creating a name for yourself. The opportunities are limitless as far as the options you have to bring some change in your community.

Donating for charity

Every community should have an opportunity for residents to contribute to charity. Even if no charity organization exists in your area, you may opt to rally the locals towards donating and raising money for other charitable causes. You may also champion the idea of establishing regular visits to nearby children homes as a way of upholding philanthropy.

Be a responsible resident

Another way you can help bring about change within your area is if you get yourself actively involved in local politics and issues of social, economic, and political concern. Active involvement in such issues helps ensure that the local government is brought to task and supervised accordingly to ensure responsible leadership. Such a contribution helps alleviate some of the most common leadership challenges that poorly governed communities face.

Being a recycling ambassador

One of the greatest challenges we have in our time is the need to live environmentally-responsible lives. Being cautious of how resourcefully to use the environment by recycling and practicing proper disposal of waste can help bring an impact. As we all know, trash has a very negative impact on our environment. Recycling helps us conserve energy and keep our environment looking healthy and clean. Recycling waste yourself can also impact other people who may have you as a role model as far as maintaining the integrity of the environment is concerned.

Buying local

Buying local has a ton of great benefits! It reduces environmental impact, keeps the community unique, and creates more local ownership and jobs. It is always said that buying locally produced items helps build the local economy. You should, therefore, target frequenting the local stores and grocery outlets for your common shopping needs. Besides, buying locally produced items gives you access to fresh produce directly from the farm. Buying locally also help sustain the locals’ businesses, thereby creating economic sustainability.

Become socially conscious

Social consciousness in a community is crucial in helping maintain peace and stability within the area. Social responsibility can be practiced by endeavoring to check on the welfare of your neighbors and empathetically solving common social problems.

Community Service Ideas for Families

By Jerry Swon

On May 20, 2019

In Blog, Volunteer

Giving back to your city, town, or neighborhood through community service can be both fun and rewarding for the entire family and beneficial to your local community as well. Helping others who are in need, or beautifying or city through community service work as a family can also strengthen bonds between parents and siblings. Community service also makes you feel better about yourself through the joy of giving. If you’re considering community service for you and your family, here are 6 ideas that will make your family happier and stronger and your community a better place live.

Give food, serve food

Donating food to a homeless shelter or soup kitchen is a great way to help others in need, but serving food to the homeless in addition to donating food is a great way for families to bond as a unit and it can help foster an attitude of gratefulness in young adults and children.

Assist senior citizens

Assist seniors with household tasks such as mowing the lawn, painting, and household chores. Many seniors have a lot of wisdom, and life experiences to share which can be beneficial to you and your family and entertaining as well.

Clean up a park

Get together as a family and clean up your favorite park by picking up trash. You can make the experience even more memorable by having a family picnic after your service work is complete.

Plant trees and flowers

Find areas around your neighborhood that could use a little sprucing up and plant trees or flowers. Visit your local home improvement store as a family to select the type of flowers, plants, or trees you would like to plant. Planting as a family not only allows you the opportunity to beautify your neighborhood, it provides an educational opportunity for you and your family to learn about plants and growing.

Volunteer to help animals in need

Visit your local animal shelter and volunteer to clean up kennels and cages and feed homeless cats and dogs. Children love animals. Helping animals in need of love and attention is a great way for families to grow closer while helping the local community.

Organize a Christmas toy drive

Everyone loves receiving gifts at Christmas time. Organizing a Christmas toy drive with your family is a good way to teach children about the joys of giving and helping children who are less fortunate. Collect new toys around your neighborhood or take donations to buy toys, and donate them to your local shelter or to families in need.

5 Opportunities to Volunteer Abroad

By Jerry Swon

On April 29, 2019

In Blog, Volunteer

When given the opportunity to volunteer abroad, I highly recommend you cease the chance. Volunteering abroad provides allows you to travel the world and experience new things all while impacting the lives of others. Unlike volunteering domestically, international volunteering requires you to be fully immersed in a new culture. Your time spent volunteering abroad will broaden your horizons and allow you to experience a new way of living.

If you are willing to take the plunge, you will want to conduct some research about which organizations will be the best in supporting during your time abroad. To narrow down your options, I have selected a few of the best organizations that will make your volunteering experience amazing.

Love Volunteers

Love Volunteers was first started by a brother and sister duo from New Zealand who wanted more opportunities to travel abroad that didn’t break the bank. The organization first formed in 2009 with only 20 projects in 12 countries. Fast forward to the present day, Love Volunteers has hundreds of volunteer opportunities in over 30 countries. Love Volunteers works closely with local communities in developing countries to ensure they create the most impact without negatively disrupting the community.

Global Vision International

With over 20,000 volunteers since 1998, it is no wonder why Global Vision International (GVI) has been recognized as one of the “Best Volunteering Organizations”. GVI has 250 active initiatives around the world that help contribute towards long terms solutions to global issues. Along with a volunteer program, GVI also has internship and leadership development programs perfect for those who are looking for global career experience.

Plan My Gap Year

Whether you need a break from your academic career or have just graduated, volunteering abroad can provide you with clarity or the chance to make a difference before you take on the next step in your life. Plan My Gap was founded by volunteers for volunteers that offers programs across 17 countries, that range from short-term (1 week) to long-term ( 40 weeks).

Volunteering Solutions

Volunteering Solutions has logged over 773,825 hours of volunteering. For those in a time crunch, Volunteering Solutions offers 2-Week Specials where you can immerse yourself into a volunteering experience without taking you away from your home for too long. They offer a variety of volunteer experiences from volunteering at an Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand to working for Beach Conservation and Restoration Project on the beaches of Costa Rica.

Cross-Cultural Solutions

For almost a quarter of a decade, Cross-Cultural Solutions has made it their mission to impact education and health opportunities for communities who are in need. The organization primarily focuses on seven countries, Morocco, Ghana, Peru, Greece, Thailand, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. Unlike other organizations, Cross-Cultural Solutions does not house its volunteers with host families in order to maximize security.

The Ideal Method to Finding A Volunteer Niche

By Jerry Swon

On April 1, 2019

In Blog, Volunteer

Looking for volunteer opportunities is one of the easiest searches one can do, generally. Local communities will never be at a loss for needing help, and the resources available to find that work are readily accessible.

Different sources one may use to search for these opportunities include local community centers, local community colleges, bulletin boards, and probably more commonly, the internet!

If one chooses to go to internet route, there is a particular source that provides some good insight on the topic, called Idealistcareers.org. An article recommended for reading can be found by going to the website here.

The first thing to focus on before beginning this search is to decide which field of work would be most desired to volunteer in. What area of interest sparks passion? Perhaps it is an area of interest that allows for many open opportunities. When a person can feel that he/she is making a difference in what he/she does, all parties benefit from that, and it keeps him/her wanting to go back for more. With that in mind, a person can start to look at other factors that play a part in finding the right opportunity.

Other factors to consider in this search include preference on a timeframe, local versus remote locations, and how much time is wanted to be spent volunteering. For timeframe, a person could look for weekday work or weekend work. Some volunteer opportunities are more available during the weekend because more people will generally be available during those times. That’s not to say that during the week there are fewer opportunities.

That brings up another factor – local versus remote locations. If someone is a hands-on type of person that prefers working locally and with other people, examples to consider for local opportunities may be at a pet shelter, a soup kitchen, a children’s daycare, or feeding the homeless. If a person would prefer to be on the computer, on their phone, or volunteering through media, some remote opportunities may consist of assisting Red Cross with online message boards, editing or writing to help support an environmental cause, or acting as an advocate for a mental health company.

All of the above can act as an aid for how to find volunteer opportunities. A future volunteer should decide what field to help with, figure out how much time is to be spent doing it and then put it into action.

4 Tips For Getting Your Kids to Volunteer

By Jerry Swon

On March 1, 2019

In Blog, Volunteer

Volunteering time and money to worthwhile causes is a lesson that all people need to learn. Childhood is a perfect time to introduce this lesson. It is not uncommon for children to have unrealistic ideas about the challenges that people or animals face. Volunteering can open a child’s mind to the difficulties that life can bring. Here are some tips for getting children to volunteer.

Find Out Their Interests
If a child loves animals, encourage them to volunteer at an animal shelter. They will be excited about interacting with the animals and tending to their needs. If a child enjoys going to the beach teach them the importance of preserving the environment by volunteering to pick up trash on your own or with a civic organization. When children are interested in what they are doing, they are more likely to learn why volunteering is important and be apt to volunteer their time as they get older.

Make it a Family Affair
Make volunteering a natural part of your family’s culture. Children learn by example. When parents show children that volunteering is an important aspect of being a good citizen, they are more likely to want to volunteer. In addition, they will look forward to volunteering as a way to spend additional family time together.

Start on a Small Scale
Teach children that volunteering does not have to be a big production. If a neighbor is sick or homebound, determine what the family can do to assist them. This might mean preparing a meal or cleaning up their house. This type of activity teaches children that people who are near to them often need assistance and assisting them does not require a great deal of time or money.

Teach Compassion and Gratitude
When children are compassionate towards others and grateful for what they have, they are more likely to volunteer. Children should be taught not to judge people’s circumstances if they haven’t walked in their shoes. Additionally, children should learn the importance of gratitude and appreciate their lives.

Following the aforementioned tips will result in children who are eager to help others. Once they experience the joy that comes from volunteering and making a difference in their communities, giving back will be something they do with eagerness and excitement.

How You Can Encourage Interaction Within Your Community

By Jerry Swon

On February 10, 2019

In Blog, Community

Communities hold great importance to our lives. Looking at your own life, you will notice that you are a part of multiple communities, like school, work, or church. One of the reasons why these groups have such an impact on our lives is due to the interaction that the organization’s members have with one another. Engagement with your community is not something that can happen overnight. To increase interaction within your own community, try implementing the following strategies.

Get to Know Your “Neighbors”

Whether you are talking to your neighbor who lives next door or the friendly florist in town, it is beneficial to know who makes up your community. When someone new comes to town, find a moment to introduce yourself and learn a little bit about the person. Getting to know the people that live around you, helps to form relationships and bonds with more ease.

Compose and Send Out a Community Newsletter

A great way to increase interaction is to let others know when there are planned events or meetings. A monthly newsletter allows members of your community to be connected and kept up to date as possible. Although it will require some work on your end, a newsletter helps to announce events, share thoughts, help create a community dialogue. To create your own community newsletter, start by forming a newsletter committee. Once your newsletter committee is formed, decide on what information you would like to include and delegate who gets what roles. From there, you have to set a few deadlines, and soon enough you will be ready to publish and share your newsletter with all members of your community.

Create and Hold Regular Events

Events are a great opportunity for community members to engage and interact with each other on a personal level. Events can range from simple to intricate. A community barbeque or potluck may be a good event to first coordinate, while a community-wide fundraiser may be something you will want to visit further down the road.

Create a Community Center

If your town doesn’t have one already, create a petition to build a community center. A community center can offer a variety of benefits including boosting the local economy, providing a meeting space, and keeping adolescents safe. More often than not, community centers help encourage participation and engagement by hosting events, activities, and even classes. Community centers can also help motivate residents to become more involved with volunteering.

Give Back This Holiday Season Jerry Swon

How You Can Give Back This Holiday Season

By Jerry Swon

On December 3, 2018

In Blog, Volunteer

With holidays quickly approaching, the time for celebration with family and friends is near. While it can easy to get caught up with consumerism, it is important to think of how you can give back. We have so much to be thankful for, there are others who are not as unfortunate. This season I challenge you to make a difference in someone’s lives and give back. Keep reading to discover a few ways that you can spread holiday cheer.

Send Holiday Cards to Active Soldiers and Veterans

The holidays can be a difficult time for soldiers who are overseas and away from their families. Sending festive cards to soldiers or veterans is a thoughtful way to give back and is simple to do!

Once you have written a few cards, check out your local American Red Cross chapter to see if they participate in the Holidays for Heroes program. If you find that they don’t participate, check to see if A Million Thanks, has a drop-off location nearby.

Collect Donations for a Food Bank

This season, don’t let others go hungry. During the holidays, food banks are always looking for nonperishable items. After looking through your own pantry, ask family, friends, or neighbors if they have canned food to spare. Food banks will also ask for other items like toiletries, school supplies, and other paper goods.

Donate Gently Used Clothes and Coats

If you don’t live in a warmer client, the winters can be harsh without a winter coat. Browse through your closets to see if you have any coats, sweaters, or long sleeves that you just don’t reach for. Before you donate, make sure that your clothes are washed and clean. You can donate your clothes to a local Goodwill or to One Warm Coat. With One Warm Coat, you can even hold your own coat drive in your community.

Sponsor a Family’s Christmas

A great way to give back is to adopt a family for the holiday. Local charitable groups, non-profits, and religious organizations will gather information from families in need of a little help. They will compose a holiday wishlist along with clothing sizes and preferences. Whether you decide to pursue this endeavor solo or with a few friends, you will be providing another family with a wonderful holiday.

Pick Out a Present for Toys for Tots

If adopting a family isn’t in your budget, you can still donate a gift to Toys for Tots. Toy for Tots is a program that collects donations and distributes new toys to families who can’t afford gifts. Giving to Toys for Tots is a great way for you to get your children involved. Ask your kids to pick out a toy that they think another little boy or girl would enjoy.

Top 3 Ways You Can Help Your Community

By Jerry Swon

On July 13, 2018

In Blog, Community, Volunteer

Reflect on the word, “community”. What does that word mean to you? For some community means the 5-mile radius surrounding their home. For others, it can be a group at church, to the neighborhood to the entire city. However you define community, you can play an active role in how it grows.

To make an impact in your own community you don’t have to be rich or powerful or even a certain age. Just wanting an willing to make a difference is enough. To make a difference in your own community here are few ways you can get started.

Support Local Businesses

One way to make sure you community thrives is to support local businesses. Too often do mom and pop stores close due to lack of business. Before you buy your produce from a chain store, check out your local farmers market or grocery store. Chances are, the product will be fresher and of a higher quality.

Volunteer

Sometimes saying that you will volunteer is easier than actually doing it. Although we all have busy lives, setting aside to help out the community can create a big impact. There are always plenty of opportunities available if you are looking hard enough for them. Some volunteer opportunities will require an ongoing commitment, and others times it may be a one-off project or event. Regardless of time commitment here are a few examples of how you can volunteer in your community:

Join a Big Brothers Big Sisters Program
Serve a meal at your local homeless shelter
Spend the day reading to residents of a retirement home
Clean up a local park
Build a house with Habitat for Humanity

These are only a few options on how you can volunteer! If you ever find yourself in the New Jersey area, you can check out these 5 great organizations to volunteer at.

Start Your Own Project

If you find that your community is has a need that isn’t being met, take the initiative and start your own project. If you find yourself passionate about a cause within your community, but no one is taking action, become the ambassador of the cause! Some projects you may orchestrate can include:

A bake sale, concert, or auction where all proceeds go to a charitable cause like an animal shelter.
Organize a back-to-school drive where members of the community can donate school supplies for the upcoming year
Adopt a Highway and clean up litter

Being proactive in your community is one of the most impactful things you can do. With that being said, take on the opportunity to make a difference in your community today!

How to Build a Mindset of Inclusion

By Jerry Swon

On June 8, 2018

In Community

Funding a cause can stretch across the global landscape, from arts to science to humanities and everything in between. Philanthropic work touches a variety of lives in a myriad of ways; it’s one of the unique blessings of grant funding in the first place.

One of those groups that are most often touched, but sometimes forgotten, are people with disabilities. Nearly 20% of people in the United States have at least some disability, whether a physical handicap that is evidenced by things such as a wheelchair, or a hidden disability like anxiety or depression. What’s more is that the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is a whopping 64%.

The statistics are in, and people with a disability feel more ostracized and stigmatized than ever. Part of the job of being a funder is not only to provide the means by which the world can grow but that people who may feel disenchanted by others can be included as well.

Here are a few ways they can do precisely that:

Encourage Organizations to Adapt. Although funders are not explicitly in charge of the organizations that they support, they still hold a considerable amount of influence on the operations that the entity partakes in. By encouraging – or, to take it a step further and mandating it as a condition of the grant – organizations to make themselves more accessible by providing ramps or socially-safe activities, they can influence a group to become more inclusive.

Communicate Accessibility. One of the struggles that many people with disabilities face is who to contact in case they need to make special accommodations. Provide a number or contact information on all event or program materials that will get people in contact with the proper people. Furthermore, communicate on your material loudly that this organization is striving to be inclusive: anticipate activities or accommodations that people might suggest and describe them in detail.

Prioritize Inclusion. Alongside the central goal of an organization – whether that goal is to spread education, combat poverty, or something else – the funder and the group need to prioritize inclusion among their own ranks. Actively recruit people with disabilities and value them for their vital contribution to their time. Once a group begins to break down the walls that divide us as humans, everything else falls into place.