New Year’s Resolution to keep giving back

I’ve had it with the same old New Year’s Resolutions. There’s so much more that I want to do rather than becoming a member of the “I resolve to lose weight club!” Been there, done that. I already make my kids my priority, love my job, meditate daily, and I’m kind to animals. It’s time to make a resolution that will go way beyond me and help others. My New Year’s resolution is to volunteer with a different organization every month of 2010 — wow – I even love saying it — and to make volunteering more accessible to others. To achieve that goal, I’ve put together 12 organizations that are easy to consult with wherever you happen to be. Open the doors of possibility, and join me in helping others. Even if we achieve volunteering just one more time in 2010 than in 2009, that’s an accomplishment too! No matter what age or stage of life you happen to be, volunteering is a great way to expand your circle of friends of every age and gender.
Idealist (www.idealist.org) is an interactive site that “everyday helps 70,000 people around the world turn their good intentions into action.” To search for volunteer opportunities, fill in the online questionnaire, choosing from areas of interest according to your specific skills, time availability, and age with a wide range of resources available.
Singles for Service (www.singlesforservice.com) combines online dating with community service projects, “to help good people meet good people while doing good things.” This organization started in Atlanta, Georgia, but there are many others around the country. Research “single volunteer opportunities” online to find a time, place and activity that will introduce you to like-minded people.
Culinary Corp (www.culinarycorps.org) sponsored by Share Our Strength (www.strength.org), organizes outreach programs for culinary students and professionals. Referred to as the Peace Corps for cooks, team members travel to farmers’ markets, school gardens, crisis kitchens, and restaurants to donate their skills, talents, and time. Sample itineraries and volunteer information, including costs and upcoming trips, are available online.
Volunteer Match (www.VolunteerMatch.org) connects hundreds of nonprofit programs with thousands of people looking to help. Visit the search page and enter a city or zip code. Find an opportunity of interest, click on the title for more information, click “I want to help,” and a message will be sent to the organization notifying them of your interest.
1-800-Volunteer.org (www.1-800-volunteer.org) is a national database with a
search feature including areas of interest, location, and the distance from that location you are willing to consider. Opportunities range from one-day events to longer-term commitments.
Points of Light Institute (www.pointsoflight.org) includes the HandsOn Network (www.handsonnetwork.org), the largest volunteer and citizen action network in the country.
Volunteer opportunities are listed online by city and organization with links to contact information, Web sites, online volunteer matching, and volunteer management training.
National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org) opportunities include becoming a Habitat Ambassador, a Global Warming Ambassador, or a Wildlife Literacy Ambassador. Join a group to help restore wildlife habitats in Louisiana, participate in Frogwatch USA, or volunteer at NWF offices or from your home.
The Land Trust Alliance (www.landtrustalliance.org) includes 1,700 organizations conserving over 37 million acres, saving forests, farms, waterways, and natural areas. Contribute your time and skills in communities where you live, work, or travel by connecting online with nationwide, statewide, and local land trusts listed with links providing contact information, demographics, and acres conserved.
Passport in Time (www.passportintime.com) connects volunteers with professional archeologists and historians in national forests. Help survey for historic sites in remote areas, excavate archaeological sites, monitor the condition of rock art, conduct oral history interviews,
restore historic structures, or prepare artifacts for curation and research. Apply online.
Doing Good Together (612-822-6502; doinggoodtogether.org; mail@doinggoodtogether.org) is a local and national resource that focuses on family volunteering with young children. You can sign up for a newsletter and listing of volunteer activities, and find out how to initiate and participate in programs for families through school, work, or faith-based groups.
One Brick (www.onebrick.org) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit with chapters in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis–St. Paul. Each volunteer event, benefitting the environment, food banks, schools, and inner-city neighborhoods is followed by a gathering at a local restaurant so that participants get to know one another.
The United Way (www.liveunited.org) is in every community and there are many ways to help at special events, on a fundraising campaign, or serve on a committee. Wherever you’ll be traveling, consider contacting the local United Way to find out about volunteering opportunities at local events.
Happy Helping! And please let me know about your favorite volunteer activities!

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An Alternative Spring Break Volunteer Vacation

The Tamarisk Stump

Here’s one of my favorite alternative spring vacation service learning and volunteer vacation trips have become so popular that many schools have huge waiting lists and use a lottery system to select participants. Here’s a great trip that students can raise the costs to cover their activities, room, board and participation before they go.
Plateau Restoration, a nonprofit organization since 1995, is a licensed guide and outfitter that offers land-based excursions, river journeys, and custom trips throughout southern Utah, western Colorado, and northern Arizona. They provide meaningful, fun-filled opportunities for people to participate in the preservation and rehabilitation of public lands through service-learning, volunteer vacations, and adventure education programs.
Service-learning is defined as educational enrichment programming integrated with active, hands-on community service. Plateau Restoration’s focus is on building a connection with nature and encouraging an active role in long-term conservation. Activities include trail building, fencing, planting, seed collection, controlling exotic species, research, and monitoring recreation impacts. Programs emphasize the interconnections between soil, vegetation, wildlife, humans, and the landscape. Interactive, multi-environment experiences encourage you to become better informed about desert ecosystems and the forces that give rise to the dramatic landscapes.
Plateau Restoration works with instructors and guides with over 20 years of field experience leading and instructing courses in the canyon country. University credit is available on many programs.

Brad’s Story, Plateau Restoration, Moab, Utah (also included in my book, VOLUNTEER VACATIONS ACROSS AMERICA)

“I had so much fun. I flew out to Moab, Utah, from
Johnson City, Tennessee, to volunteer with five groups
of college kids on service-learning vacations. It was
absolutely wonderful. That’s one of my favorite things
to do, and I’m very proud to be part of it.
We did projects in a number of locations around
Moab. We worked and stayed at Ken’s Lake, named for
a gentleman who was the mayor in Moab. My goodness,
we did trail maintenance and rerouting trails,
where we actually had to go in and create new trails,
building water breaks and cribbing high-erosion areas.
“The biggest project was at Arches National Park by
Delicate Arch. We were removing some vegetation,
digging out roots—holey moley, some were 3 to 4 feet
long. Hard work when it’s so hot out there; those kids
just ate it up.
“I go on a service-learning vacation every year. It’s
awesome, and the kids really benefited from it and
enjoyed themselves, and so did I. It was my vacation
time away from my job, and as always, it was time very
well spent. I returned home revved, revived, rejuvenated,
and looking forward to next year.”

Plateau Restoration: P.O. Box 1363, Moab UT 84532; 435-259-7733; http://www.plateaurestoration.org; info@plateaurestoration.org; daily rate ranges from $20 to $75 per person.

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