This year, National Volunteer Week is April 27 through May 3. This week honors and recognizes those individuals that dedicate their free time to volunteering and helping out their community and surrounding areas. This years Volunteer Week theme is “Volunteer to Change the World.” You can read an entire resource guide to National Volunteer week here.
National Volunteer Week was started in 1974 when President Nixon signed an executive order to establish a week out of the year to celebrate volunteers and all that the do. And every since then the current president has signed a proclamation promoting this week. Volunteering your free time is such an important asset to helping the well being of our planet and the individuals who live in it. Here are some ideas for Volunteer Opportunities to help celebrate National Volunteer Week.
Volunteer at a Local Homeless Shelter
You can do alot more at a homeless shelter than just help serve meals. You can also organize a clothing drive and a food drive in the surrounding neighborhoods for the individuals at the shelter. Food Drives are important so the shelter can spend less money on stocking the pantry to prepare meals with.
Senior Citizens
You can do a lot of helpful volunteer activities for Senior Citizens. Such as, doing some of there yard work, mowing the lawn and keeping bushes nice and trimmed. Offer to teach a yoga or stretching class for Senior Citizens at your local Recreation Center. You can also offer to do grocery shopping for some Senior Citizens around your neighborhood once a month. Any of these Volunteer Opportunities would be greatly appreciated throughout your community.
Libraries
Libraries are always in need of volunteers. You can get a group together to volunteer for reading programs that are designed for children a couple times a week as an after school program. Most libraries also need help re-shelving books, assisting customers, and answering phone calls. You can contact a local library in your area to see what kind of volunteer help they need.
Tutoring & Mentoring the Youth
Tutors are an important asset. Some children struggle with learning in a classroom with lots of other students in them and benefit more from a one-on-one atmosphere. You and a group of friends can volunteer at local school to start an after school program where children can come to get additional help with their studies and projects.
Local Clean-Ups
Another Volunteer Opportunity is organizing a group to help clean one of the local parks. Parks are such a great place for kids to go run around in the nice weather and have a good time with their friends. Unfortunately, sometimes parks are overrun with litter and it’s for the city to maintain upkeep. By organizing a clean-up crew you will be giving back to the community in so many ways. Also, any kind of local clean-ups will be appreciated by the community such as cleaning a local stretch of road or a local stretch of highway.
Those are just some ways you can contribute to National Volunteer Week. Get creative and come up with some ideas of your own and have fun putting them into action. Don’t forget to also send your friends a card to remind them of National Volunteer Week!
