We all want to help others, but in today's fast-paced world, giving can seem overwhelming, so many charities have gone online in an effort to make philanthropy easier for us. If you are interested in volunteer service, remember to "follow your passions." You're more likely to follow through with your volunteer work if you find something that fits your interests and/or abilities. That's just what the online databases listed below can help you do. Whether you want to build houses for Habitat For Humanity, teach people to read or tutor them in your language, or clean up a lake or river near you, you can search these databases from your home for one of literally thousands of volunteer opportunities. Find the one (or ones) that fit your available time, your pocketbook, your interests, and are within driving distance of your home — or anywhere around the world, if you'd prefer to combine world travel with your volunteer work. To become a cybervolunteer, search these sites: <http://www.volunteermatch.org/> <http://CityCares.org/national/> <http://www.idealist.com/> (do a search for "volunteer") It’s even easier to be a humanitarian when you visit click-to-donate sites like <www.thehungersite.com/>, where a click of your mouse allows you to donate a cup of food, at no cost to you, to the hungry. You can visit the site once a day to donate in this way. You’ll feel good knowing that you’re helping with the world hunger problem, and the money to pay for the food and the work of distributing it is donated by the site’s sponsors. What could be easier? While you’re at this site, click on the tabs at the top of the page to make similarly sponsored donations benefiting breast cancer treatment and rainforest reclamation. One of my personal favorites and a wonderful site to visit is <http://www.altgifts.org/>. Through this site, you can help the needy around the world in the name of someone you know as your gift to that person. Who wouldn't like a gift of knowing she or he was helping the world’s needy? To make a donation online to your favorite charities, <http://www.helping.org/> and <www.4charity.com> are the sites to search. And for those of you who want to know how the various charity organizations rate, see <http://www.charitywatch.org/>. This site lists the charities that The American Institute of Philanthropy gives its highest grades. There are many other good Internet sites dedicated to volunteer/humanitarian work. This article should give you a good start in finding you own favorite "virtual volunteering" sites so that you can become a world server, actively caring for the welfare of the worldwide community and making a difference by your giving. Terria Fleming is a spiritual activist and writer who teaches classes about spiritual subjects and is available for spiritual/psychic readings. Terria can be reached at P.O. Box 2314, Salem, OR 97308 or by e-mail at <trfhomefree@hotmail.com>. |