During National Volunteer Week, we at Points of Light and HandsOn Network encourage people to recognize the outstanding impact of volunteers with the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

Created by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the President’s Volunteer Service Award program is a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service. 

Recognizing and honoring volunteers sets a standard for service, encourages a sustained commitment to civic participation, and inspires others to make service a central part of their lives. The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals, families, and groups that have achieved a certain standard – measured by the number of hours of service over a 12-month period or cumulative hours earned over the course of a lifetime.

To date, the President’s Council has partnered with more than 80 leadership organizations and more than 28,000 certifying organizations to bestow more than 1.5 million awards to the Nation’s deserving volunteers.

Depending on which award package is ordered, award recipients can receive: An official President’s Volunteer Service Award lapel pin, a personalized certificate of achievement or a congratulatory letter from the President of the United States.

Any individual, family, or group can receive Presidential recognition for volunteer hours earned over a 12-month period or over the course of a lifetime at home or abroad. The following are the eligibility requirements for each age group: Kids, age 5-14, young adults, individuals age 15-25, and adults age 26 and up.

Criterion for the bronze presidential award include the completion of  50-74 service hours for kids, 100 to 174 hours for Young Adults, 100 to 249 hours for adults, and 200 to 499 hours for families and groups.

Criterion for the silver presidential award include the completion of 75 to 99 hours for Kids, 175 to 249 hours for Young Adults, 250 to 499 hours for adults, and 500 to 999 hours for families and groups.

Criterion for the gold presidential award include the completion of 100 hours or more for kids, 250 hours or more for young adults, 500 hours or more for adults, and 1000 hours or more for families and groups.

Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras is typically a celebration marked with rich foods that will prepare participants for the fast they will experience during the religious Lenten season. Traditional foods are consumed in celebration of the carnival such as fried pastries, breads, and eggs. Celebrations vary from state to state and country to country, but the overall message remains the same. It is a message of good will and celebration for the riches that we have been given.

Fat Tuesday is the perfect time to add volunteering to the celebration agenda! You can give thanks for the things that you have, by serving those who may be less fortunate than you. Here’s how:

1. Is your town hosting a Mardi Gras parade? Help out by serving food, riding floats, or just getting out and meeting your neighbors!
2. Serve food to parade goers. Who doesn’t love good ol’ New Orleans food, Jambalaya anyone?
3. Make Mardi Gras masks with kids at your local daycare, shelter, or hospital. It’s easy! All you need is yellow, green, or purple construction paper, glitter, feathers, and an imagination. These masks will be a fun project for all ages!
4. Teach youngsters about the history of New Orleans, Louisiana. Tell youth about New Orleans and why Mardi Gras is such a big celebration there. It is also important to teach kids about the progress that has been made since Hurricane Katrina.
5. Serve your favorite fried foods to a soup kitchen. Share the Mardi Gras love with those who may not be able to celebrate it. Donate Mardi Gras themed foods to your local soup kitchen so that they may have a celebration too!
6. Coordinate a Mardi Gras themed party at your local retirement home, shelter, school, or soup kitchen. Guests can wear Fat Tuesday themed outfits, play games, and eat some great Louisiana inspired food. Don’t forget that king cake!
7. Make Mardi Gras themed bracelets with kids in local hospital care. String yellow, green, and purple beads together to make a bracelet in memory of Hurricane Katrina.
8. Host a Mardi Gras themed pot-luck dinner with your friends, family, or neighbors. Have each guest donate money to your favorite cause. You can be merry and make a difference!
9. Sign up to be a part of Meals on Wheels. Donate food and share that Fat Tuesday cheer with those who need it most.
10. Do you have a musical talent? Volunteer your musical skills at a local retirement home for a Mardi Gras themed party.

There are so many ways that you can volunteer Fat Tuesday style! Today is a great day to not only enjoy all the festivities, but also a way to celebrate your community and its members by serving.

Are you volunteering today? What are you doing to spread the good in your community?

Animals can put even the sourest person into a great mood, just by their presence. Whether your animal friend is a dog, a cat, or a hamster this is the perfect day to bring your pet out and share some good cheer with those who really need it. Why not show your appreciation for your pet’s love by taking them out to volunteer? Not only will you get to show your appreciation for your pet, but others will show their appreciation for everything your pet does for them as well!

“How can I get my furry friend involved in volunteering?” It is easy check out our suggestions below and share the animal love today!

1. Pet therapy programs: Bring your furry friend to a nursing home, hospital, or classroom to share cheer and keep a lonely person company. The American Heart Association recently found that stress levels could be reduced for patients in long term care when accompanied by an animal. Animals provide comfort to someone who may be experiencing a stressful time. Organizations such as the Delta Society provide training for dogs that want to volunteer!
2. Local pet shelters: Show your local homeless pets some love today! Volunteer at your local Humane Society or animal shelter. You will not only make these animals happy, but playing with the animals will be sure to put you in a good mood.
3. Cleanup: Gather a team of volunteer pet lovers to clean up your neighborhood dog park. You can really show your dog just how you love him or her by providing a clean play area. By volunteering with other pet lovers, you may be able to make more friends for your furry ball of joy!
4. Donate food: Check your local animal shelter to see what supplies they may need. Donate food, toys, etc. for your local shelter. Your donation will be greatly appreciated!
5. Make a birdhouse: Today is not only a day to show appreciation for your four legged friends, but also your neighborhood pals. Make a birdhouse to hang outside your window. You won’t believe all the beautiful birds you will see!
6. Check-up time: Make an appointment at your vet’s office, if your animal is due for a check up. It is always good to make sure your pet is in tiptop shape and up-to-date on his or her shots. If your cat or dog is not spayed or neutered, make sure to make an appointment.
7.  Adopt: In the market for an animal to love? Visit the Humane Society or local animal shelter. You will find a needy animal that wants nothing more than to love you and be loved back. Adoption is a great way to show your animal love!

Volunteering for animals or with your own animal can be a very rewarding and entertaining experience. Check out generationOn for great volunteering ideas to do with both your kids and your animals! Check out the Humane Society or ASPCA to find a local shelter near you and to learn more about pet adoption!

How are you volunteering for animals today? Please share with us below! We’d love to hear about it.

Today’s post comes from Brandon Kwong the Development & Marketing Coordinator for the Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc.

Brandon was born and raised in the San Francisco area of California, and attended the University of California, Irvine—receiving a BA in Psychology & Social Behavior with minors in Educational Studies and Urban & Regional Planning. He now resides in Atlanta, GA where he works at the Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc. (CPACS) as the Development & Marketing Coordinator. At the time period of which this blog post describes, Brandon was an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) serving at CPACS.

This past October, under very unique circumstances, my friend and I had the chance to go overseas to the Philippines for a Volunteer Vacation through HandsOn Network/ HandsOn Manila. This incredible opportunity was especially astonishing for me; being a 4th generation Chinese American, I had never traveled to anywhere in Asia, let alone been outside of the United States. Our travels first began by flying into Manila (from Georgia to California, to Japan, then to the Philippines), arriving really late at night. Getting off the plane, we had no idea what to expect or where we were supposed to go—or who we were even supposed to meet for that matter. After stumbling around the airport for a bit, we were thankfully greeted by a few representatives from HandsOn Manila. While riding in the shuttle and looking out the windows, I was in complete awe of the surrounding cityscape. Even though all of the buildings, streets, highways, and bridges seemed nothing more than what I would have normally seen in a semi-congested US city, it was still quite surreal.

The next morning, we were greeted and picked up by Ms. Perrey Belen, our to-be guide for the rest of our trip in the Philippines. Perrey took us to the HandsOn Manila office, which was a very small yet humbling space. We were introduced to all of the services and volunteer opportunities that HandsOn Manila provides and coordinates. Despite their size, it was an incredible honor to work with such an established organization that truly provides the driving force for volunteer mobilization, utilizing corporate and civic engagement within Manila and the Philippines. While at HandsOn Manila, we also learned about the community we would be serving during our time in Boracay, a tourist island south of Manila that has been ranked as the 2011 World’s 4th Best Choice island to see.

The Ati community pertains to the indigenous people of Boracay, who have been forced to relocate from their original homes due to the high tourism of the island. Most of the Ati live in small makeshift communities in the back of the island, away from the main tourist areas. We were told that the Ati are not even allowed on the main tourist beaches because of their much darker complexion. The particular Ati community we volunteered at was organized by a small group of nuns, led by Sister Victoria. These nuns have a partnership with HandsOn Manila to have volunteers come in and help with their daycare and school. Sister Victoria explained to us that a while ago, the government had awarded land to the Ati community. However, they are still unable to occupy the land that was set appointed to them because of large resistance by claimants and private property owners.

Arriving in Boracay—first by plane, then boat, and finally by tricycle (a motorcycle with an attached covered side-carriage, and the primary mode of transportation around the island)—it was undeniably the most beautiful place I had ever seen; by the end of the trip, I was convinced I would probably never experience any such beautiful place again in my life. After getting off the tricycle, we quickly got settled and hopped on another tricycle where Perrey took us to meet the Ati we would be working with for the next couple of days.

We started off our first day with the Ati by going to the school/ daycare where the ages of kids ranged from about 4 to 10. During the day, many of the adults are away working, and the children are taken care of by the nuns and a few other Ati adults. We served the children breakfast, which had juice and a small piece of bread for each little one. HandsOn Manila had provided us with various coloring workbooks to give to the kids. It was a little bit difficult since the Ati children did not speak English at all. In fact, they don’t even speak Tagalog (the most commonly spoken Filipino language), but a completely different dialect, so they are unable to communicate with many of the Filipinos around Boracay. Fortunately, most of the kids were quick learners, and were good enough to teach the others in their own language.

After spending instructional time with the children, they were most excited to play with my friend and I while the Ati adults were beginning to prepare lunch in the back. Playing with the kids was honestly one of the most fun activities. In their culture, the Ati do not normally have any formal education system or any concepts of a school. The nuns first introduced the idea of a school, as well as introducing the children to wearing clothes. Thus, the kids were purely happiest when just playing around. Taking a break from the kids, my friend and I went to the back to help prepare and serve their lunch. Ati food primarily consists of a lot of soups and leafy greens with very minimal spices.

We left after serving all of the children and after trying a small bowl for the three of us, but we came back the next day with small gifts we had bought from the market—markers, erasers, and various stickers with numbers and the alphabet. This time around, we arrived in time to jump in and play with the kids in a few of their native games and help cook another meal for everyone. Overall, it was incredible learning about and experiencing the Ati culture. I can only hope the resettlement of the Ati community in Boracay becomes resolved soon between the government and property owners.

To learn more about HandsOn Manila visit: http://www.handsonmanila.org.ph/main/

To learn more about Volunteer Vacations visit: http://www.handsonmanila.org.ph/volunteervacations/

Challenge your definition of volunteering and you might just discover that you are doing it already! A volunteer, to put simply, is someone who gives his or her time willingly and expects nothing in return.

Have you ever helped a friend write a letter or a job application? Have you helped at your child’s school with an outing, at a book sale to raise money, or a community sports event? Ever “paid it forward” and committed a random act of kindness like helping a stranger with his or her suitcase at the airport? These acts are all forms of volunteering. I bet you didn’t even notice the time it took out of your day!

If time is short but you want to get involved, lending a hand can become a way of life. Here are six quick and easy ways to volunteer and start making a difference.

• Multitask!

You have to go food shopping. Why not call an elderly neighbor, or someone who can’t get out, and do his or her shopping? How about picking up a few cans for your local food bank? You are going anyway!

• Like to chat?

Do you have 30 minutes to spare, maybe once a week, and access to Facebook? Check out Language Exchange. You could partner up with someone wanting to learn your language and maybe learn his or hers, too.

• Throw a swap party!

Grab your friends for an hour and have a swap party. Choose a theme (books, clothes, toys, etc.). You might come away with something you didn’t know you needed, and all of those unused items will be recycled as something someone didn’t know they needed. All the unclaimed items can be donated to the charity of your choice.

• Are you a gamer?

Did you know that you can play online games for free that donate to charities on your behalf? One example is Charitii – a charity-donating crossword Web site that raises money to provide clean water, food for the malnourished, and protection of the rainforest worldwide.

• Utilize your own connections

If there is a cause that really means something to you, you can help raise awareness of its work using your own network. You never know who might be listening who can help! Colleagues at work, friends and family, acquaintances that you find yourself chatting with – help spread the word by talking to people. If you have time free during your lunch hour, maybe that charity needs help writing e-mails or posters that need to be put up. Why not write to your newspaper to tell of the good work that the charity does?

• Do what you know!

If you can cook, you can help. If you can read, you can help. Are you a computer programmer? A nurse? There are countless ways of using your existing skills to benefit others. Cook someone a meal, advise on health matters, fix a computer for an elderly neighbor or underfunded organization. Become aware of the people around you and figure out how much time you can spare each month. Even half an hour can make a huge difference for those who could benefit from your skills.

These are just a few small ways of donating a little bit of your time to help others. They are all unique volunteer activities and there are hundreds of more options out there. Small acts of kindness count, and add up overtime!

How do you volunteer in short time periods? Let us know in the comments below!

Happy Random Acts of Kindness Week! The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is sharing ideas and stories from hundreds of people celebrating kindness and performing kind acts across the country this week, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! Friends, teachers, parents, children, co-workers and communities have taken kindness to heart by doing kind acts and inspiring us with their stories on the Random Acts of Kindness Facebook page  and website.

One of the most inspiring stories we found is told in our Extreme Kindness Challenge winner’s video “Peach’s Neet Feet” produced by The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation and Storytellers for Good,.  Madison Steiner paints art in the form of footwear and donates them to children with long-term illness and cancer.  What an awesome act of kindness!

While Random Acts of Kindness Week is designed to celebrate the value of being kind to one another, we really don’t need a special day or week to do kind acts. Focusing a little more on the positive and treating others with kindness can happen everyday in simple ways like saying thank you or smiling at someone. Our kind acts can be as small as holding the door open for someone or as big as volunteering at the local food bank.  We don’t need to wait for a natural disaster to show kindness, and everyone from pre-school students to seniors can be kind.

Here’s how you can start practicing kindness.  As you look around in your community this week, whether that’s your school, workplace or city, notice where someone can use a little more kindness in their life.  Choose to make a difference by offering a little something of appreciation.  A note of thanks, helping with a chore, or just holding a door open for someone can make them feel appreciated and brighten your day. Commit to doing it again the next day. Pretty soon you’ll be doing kind-hearted acts everyday.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation invites you to join the kindness movement and use our free resources to for teaching, sharing and doing kindness.  We’ve got ideas, quotes, lesson plans, activities and videos to inspire and empower everyone to be kind

Kindness can change our world; one joyful, selfless act at a time!

Kindly,

Marilyn Decalo, Education Director

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation

Check out Peach’s Neet Feet the winner of the Extreme Kindness Challenge. This video was originally posted on The Random Acts of Kindness Youtube channel. 

We Are Thankful for Our Volunteers This Holiday Season

12 Tips for Recognizing Volunteer Managers

Recognizing Volunteers on Labor Day

6 Tips for Recognizing Volunteers

Four Tips for a Different National Volunteer Week

Giving Thanks for Volunteers

The Nine Basic Rules for Volunteer Recognition

National Volunteer Week, which runs from 4/15 to 4/21, is also a great way to recognize your volunteers and the work they do for your organization. You can recognize them not only with a service award, but also by sharing their inspirational story! Submit your stories by 3/31.

Anna: When Hurricane Katrina hit, our nation was in shock – myself included. I couldn’t get the images of floating homes and helpless people out of my head. So with the help of my best friends in college, I organized a group of volunteers from the University of Chicago to fly down to Biloxi, Mississippi to volunteer with HandsOn during our winter break. I prepared myself for the wreckage, tragedy, mold and dust, all of which I found in abundance – what I didn’t prepare for, but what found me anyway – was true love.

Andrew: After Katrina in the fall of 2005, I got an email about a volunteer trip being organized to Biloxi, MS. I thought to myself, “What else am I doing during Christmas break? This could be fun.” So I went to the info session and as I walked in—bam! There sat this super cute girl. She introduced herself as Anna Snoeyenbos, and as the group leader she then launched into a briefing. I was too impressed by her combination of beauty, intelligent, and social presence to pay much attention to disaster relief logistics.

Anna: We had just finished a long day of gutting moldy houses along the Gulf Coast. My friends and I were tired but having fun and looking to party. Some of the older long-term volunteers at the HandsOn shelter invited us to the “hottest club” around, the “Spin Cycle” – a.k.a. the volunteer laundry house, and the only place we were allowed to drink via a technicality (no alcohol IN the volunteer center). And so a bunch of us, including this funny redhead, Drew Flowers, found ourselves drinking beers and telling stories over the rumble and thump of a half-dozen washers and dryers working overtime. Drew kept telling these crazy stories about growing up in the Deep South – which sounded as wild and foreign to me as if he were talking about hitchhiking through Mongolia. I was hooked. “He’s a keeper,” I thought – of course referring to my friend who was dating him at the time.

Andrew: Over the next few years, my friendship with Anna grew. After I ended my previous relationship and was preparing to leave for Nigeria for a human rights internship with Kiva, a micro-financing organization, I called her from O’Hare Airport and asked her to keep in touch over the summer.

Anna: And so we emailed each other long, rambling emails from opposite ends of the world. I was fascinated by his experiences in Nigeria – he was interested in my summer as a counselor at Camp Woodstock in Connecticut. Our romance blossomed as we swapped stories about the communities we were engaging with.

Andrew: After graduating from college, we moved to Atlanta where I took a job with the Federal Reserve Bank.

Anna: And I took a job with HandsOn Network. Who could have guessed that those days spent ripping down moldy sheet rock and tarping roofs along the gulf would change my life so dramatically? The truth is, you never know what will happen when you volunteer. The possibilities are endless!

Anna Snoeyenbos is a Manager of Corporate Engagement for HandsOn Network. She lives with her fiancé in Atlanta, Georgia. They are engaged to be married on May 19,2012 at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (next door to Points of Light headquarters of course!)

Why not choose a Valentine’s gift that gives back instead of just gives for a couple days. Whether it is fair-trade chocolate, flowers that fight causes, or a teddy bear for charity you are sure to make an impression with these gifts!

1. Flowers are always a good choice when it comes to your Valentine. How about choosing flowers that not only look gorgeous on her work desk or dinner table, but also give back to her favorite charity. Companies such as organicbouquet.com do just that! You have the choice of choosing from a bouquet of flowers in their Flowers for Good program. You can choose flowers that will give back to organizations such as the American Lung Association, Women For Women, Amnesty International, or PETA. Your sweetheart is sure to be impressed with this gift from the heart!
2. Looking to put your honey’s feet in style, why not try TOMS shoes? For every pair of shoes that you purchase, another pair is given to a child in need. This is great way to not only bring a smile to your significant other’s face, but also give a smile to a child in need!
3. Does your lover have a sweet tooth? Fair-trade chocolate is the perfect gift to satisfy a sweet tooth! Companies such as TCHO Chocolates and Divine Chocolate donate a portion of their proceed to fair-trade practices or practice fair-trade practices.
4. Is your Valentine not much of a chocolate fanatic? Cookies are always a great gift for any holiday! Cookies for Kid’s Cancer not only taste great they also donate 100 percent of profits to fund pediatric cancer research!
5. Looking for date ideas? Volunteer together for your favorite cause. It is a great way to spend time together on something that you are both passionate about.
6. Give cookies or valentines cards to those in need. You can make cookies for your local retirement home, make valentines cards for a homeless shelter, or visit a hospital.
7. Perform a small act of kindness for someone in your neighborhood, work, or a complete stranger. Whether you are shoveling someone’s driveway or mowing his or her lawn. You can truly show someone the power of love just through a simple act of kindness.

This Valentine’s Day do more to spread the love. You are sure to impress that special someone, while you also spread the love to someone who may need it more with these simple Valentines tips.

We hope these suggestions get you out of the Valentines Day rut and help you celebrate the power of love. Have a happy Valentines Day and please share with us how you are celebrating, we would love to hear about it!

For the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, UNICEF USA wanted to show the country’s resilience and bring to light the daily challenges Haitian people still face daily. UNICEF USA decided to solve their desire through the use of social media to bring attention back to Haiti.

UNICEF USA brought the voices of Haiti’s youth to the attention of viewers through their Haiti365 Conversation project. Haiti365 has become a unique forum for viewers to respond to children’s questions about various topics such as gender equality, education, and Justin Bieber. UNICEF believes that youth are central to the recovery of Haiti, and through this project they can bring current issues to the world’s attention.

How did this project get started?

Last summer, UNICEF selected a group of young people to attend a high level summit on youth at the United Nations. For most of the Haitian youth who attended the summit, it was their first time ever visiting the United States.

The children had many questions for the General Assembly and the United Nations Round Table discussion on climate change about the state of their country and its recovery.

After the children addressed the United Nations, they had questions for their international peers. That is where the Haiti365 conversation comes into action.

How can you get involved?

Interested viewers can visit the Haiti365 website to join the conversation. Visitors to the website have the option of listening and responding to one or more of the 12 questions posed by Haitian youth. Those asking the questions are either children in the range of 9 to 11 years old or young adults 19 to 22 years old.

Viewers have the option of responding to the videos by text or video recording. Viewers also have the option of asking a peer in Haiti a question of interest. UNICEF USA will also send out text messages with questions from Haitian youth that can be answered by subscribers. Those who respond to the questions also have the option of responding in Creole or English depending on preference.

This campaign is a great way to get the conversation about Haiti’s recovery started. Who knows the impact that your question or answer can make on the future! UNICEF’s campaign is a great way to raise awareness for the country of Haiti. Please join us in bringing attention to the conversation; your participation will make a huge impression especially on the children of Haiti!

About UNICEF:

UNICEF has saved more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization in the world. Working in more than 150 countries, UNICEF provides children with health and immunizations, clean water, nutrition, education, emergency and disaster relief, and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF’s work through fundraising, advocacy, and education in the United States.

UNICEF is at the forefront of efforts to reduce child mortality worldwide. There has been substantial progress: the annual number of under-five deaths dropped from more than 12 million in 1990 to 7.6 million in 2010. But still, 21,000 children die each day from preventable causes. Our mission is to do whatever it takes to make that number zero by giving children the essentials for a safe and healthy childhood.