So it is the holidays and you want to volunteer this year? This is a great desire, but how do you even begin to find a volunteer opportunity that will not only make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, but will also promote your personal interests? Choose a foundation that promotes your interests at its core!

Volunteering for a cause that you are truly passionate about will not only make your volunteering experience more enjoyable, but also more frequent. The holidays are a great time to start volunteering for your favorite cause or organization.

You may be passionate about animal rights, women’s rights, or homelessness. All are great passions but they go no further than passions if you cannot find somewhere to promote your interests.

So where can you find these amazing volunteer opportunities? The internet has great resources that place volunteers such as:

• www.1800volunteer.org
• www.serve.gov
• www.volunteermatch.org
• www.handsonnetwork.org

Now you’ve found somewhere to find volunteer opportunities, but you have no idea what to look for? Reflect on these questions:

• What do you enjoy doing most or what do you like doing for others?
• What do you see yourself accomplishing at this time in your life?
• What kind of service projects do you enjoy doing?
• How much time do you have to devote to service?

After you have answered these questions for yourself, choosing a service project that best suits your schedule and interests will be a breeze! Still looking for ideas? Here is a list of service opportunity ideas based on interest to get your project started!

• Hunger or housing:
• • Help cook and serve meals at a soup kitchen
  • Gather clothing and donate it to a local shelter
  • Make hygiene kits
  • Make care packages filled with warm clothing
  • Help repair a homeless shelter
  • Partner with Habitat for Humanity and build a house
• Elderly:
• • Spend time with a senior citizen in your community
  • Deliver meals to homebound individuals
  • Perform home repairs or yard work for senior citizens in need
  • Hold a social event for your local nursing home
  • Adopt a “grandfriend” and make regular visits to your local retirement center
• Education:
• • Raise money for Braille or large print books for the visually impaired
  • Plan a back-to-school drive to collect school supplies for needy children
  • Set up a buddy system for kids who may be lonely
  • Bring toys to hospitalized children
  • Read books or newspapers to the visually impaired
  • Raise money to purchase and install new playground equipment at a school.
• Health:
• • Participate in a local AIDS walk or breast cancer walk
  • Volunteer at a Special Olympics event
  • Host or give blood
  • Help a local agency compile health promotion kits
  • Host a health screening at your local stores, libraries, or schools
• Environment:
• • Set up a recycling system for a local school or retirement community
  • Clean up a vacant lot or a river bank
  • Raise a fund to adopt an acre of rainforest or other habitat
  • Clean up trash along a river bank or local park
  • Partner with children or teens in the community to design and paint a mural at a school or in a local park
• Children:
• • Read to students at a local elementary school
  • Host a tutoring drive for your local elementary school
  • Host a book drive in your local school, so that students can donate their old books
  • Organize a team of volunteers to mentor children or participate in a Big Brothers Big Sisters program
  • Host a youth volunteer fair
  • Create a “safe zone” that includes a play or study area for children in the community
  • Sponsor a youth sports team in your community
• Animals:
• • Volunteer at your local shelter
  • Donate a bag of pet food to your local shelter
  • Volunteer to take the dogs for a walk
  • Clean up a your local dog park
  • Adopt an endangered animal

The holidays are the perfect time to start volunteering in your community. Thanks to generationOn and Hasbro holiday volunteering has never been easier. From November 29 through December 13, for every pledge of service made through generationOn, Hasbro will donate a toy to a child in need.

We hope that these tips help turn your pledge into a plan of action! Happy volunteering!

Related articles

• Young Volunteers Really Can Make an Impact this Holiday Season (handsonblog.org)
• 5 Ideas for Getting Involved in Your Community During the Holidays (handsonblog.org)
• 3 Steps to a Successful Volunteer Project! (handsonblog.org)