How can I be more involved?

Question

So I've been going through a mini quarter life crisis and I decided that I want to do something beyond good grades. I want to do something that provides me with a sense of accomplishment and benefits others, too. FYI, I'm still in college. I don't know if this matters but I've always wanted to do something with soldiers or war vets. Not that I want to be limited to opportunities only involving those kinds of people. I'm open to a lot of things so feel free to mention something unusual and can be outgoing when needed (or when I feel like it, lol). My hobbies are reading and I love traveling. Please help me with any ideas you might have and be as comprehensive as possible. I have work experience if that will be of any help to you in deciding. Also, please keep in mind that I'd like to continue whatever this is during the school year as well.

Answer 1

I went through this last year and here are some of the organizations I enjoy volunteering for or know of:

-The American Hear Association (look for details on your local Heart Walk)

-The Humane Society

-Volunteering at a hospital

-Tutoring

-Relay for life

Also, clubs at your school probably have some excellent community service opportunities!  

I enjoy traveling too, and I have found many community service opportunities that incorporate this such as:

-raising money to build schools in undeveloped countries

-Operation Iraqi Children (This is one of my favorite organizations!)

-going on volunteer trips abroad

Have fun!

Answer 2

I would start with your local hospital. Volunteers are always needed and appreciated on various floors.   Just taking 5 minutes to talk to people is really helpful.  My husband was in the hospital for 5 months and people would come around and read to patience.   The patience loved it and so did the volunteers.  If there is a VA hospital in your area, soldiers love to tell their story.   All you need to do is listen, although you could record their stories for them.  The hardest part about volunteering is forcing yourself to make the contacts.   There are a lot of people out there that would love to hear from you.   In my area there is a volunteer phone number - check your area to see what it is.  Google your area as well.  There are many listings for volunteer work.  Many cancer walks need volunteers to help with organization and summer is a great time to lend a hand. Get out there and do it!

Answer 3

Join some organizations in effort to the causes you are most passionate about.

Answer 4

Some of the ideas above are good, but I'd skip the "walk for charity" events. If you need exercise, get it helping a war vet or war widow by doing yard work or moving furniture or taking their kids to the park while mom/dad is at the VA getting treatment.

Contact churches in your area to see if any are involved with soldiers now. My church, for example, has adopted a group of soldiers and sends them "Angel" packages of socks, sunscreen, cards, chapstick, wipes, etc. There's an older vet who collects magazines and takes them to the local VA hospital. You could try political parties also. Some are working to increase benefits for vets or to make sure that they all know about the benefits they're entitled to now and can get through the red tape to get them.

Try craigslist.com--volunteers and idealist.com--volunteers. They have stuff you couldn't even imagine.

If you love to read, you could read to the elderly whose eyes are bad or to preschoolers who need to hear stories. The latter isn't that hard. You put the kid in your lap and stop every page to talk about what you've read or ask about a picture. There's always helping kids with their reading, but doing that well requires some training.