Wanting to volunteer..any ideas?

Question

No luck with Peacecorps or Habitat for Humanity. I live in So-cal near Riverside. Looking for something longterm.

Answer 1

Look to your local soup kitchen or food bank. Try volunteering in an old aged home or nursing home or a hospital, as either a porter or someone who reads to the patients.

Volunteer for the special olympics by coaching in a sport or bowling.

Tutor young children in afterschool programs through the Boys and Girls Club or whatever organization does this.

Become a big brother or big sister.

Become a volunteer leader for the boy scouts or girl scouts or girl guides.

Find homeless shelters or centres who deal with social justice issues and volunteer your time with them.

Look into Katimivik if you're Canadian- a community development program for people 18-30.

If you just look around and see people in need I'm sure you can find something.

Pick up trash from a highway, volunteer with programs like the Hunger Project etc.

Answer 2

I live in Riverside too:)
This x-mas I "adopted a family" I went on freecycle.com and asked if there was anyone in need and picked the family I felt could really use a hand and I ended up getting them a nice meal for x-mas dinner and a HUGE box of toys donated from a local organization. I would say do the same, find a family or someone going through a hard time and be their angel. Oh yeah, Olivecrest.org has a mentor program for abused children.
I'd love to join forces if your interested!

Answer 3

Have you looked into any service organizations in your area, such as the Lion's Club, Kiwanis, Rotary Club, etc? Perhaps you could get involved in one of these clubs, or at least make contact with someone in one of these groups and volunteer with them on a regular basis.

Answer 4

I volunteer through my local Hands On Network affiliate. They provide all sorts of one-time, short-term, and long-term community service activities. Your local affiliate is called Hands On Inland Empire:

http://www.handsoninlandempire.org/

As your Hands On affiliate and local volunteer center, they can connect you with something that matches up with your interests and meets real community needs. I volunteer through another one of the Southern California affiliates, and often interview many of them for a local podcast. In the show, I recall talking to one of the volunteers that volunteered with one of the local animal shelters, and liked it so much that he and his wife are now on their board of directors. Another one of the volunteers that I work with another project described it as "fitting in as the missing piece of the puzzle."

Good luck!