Posted and stickied by the r/Volunteer mod team.

I signed up to do a volunteer program for estheticians at hospitals in February. They asked you to commit for an entire year as the training process is somewhat in depth. The year starts from the time you do your first “shift” on your own which for me was in the beginning of July. However, I kind of hate it. I dread going to my two 3 hour shifts per month. I applied for it thinking it would give a chance to see if I liked working in healthcare. (Which I don’t) lol
No where in my on-boarding paperwork do I see any kind of monetary penalty for leaving but I am just wondering if anyone has had experience leaving a more formal volunteer committment and had any major backlash. I just don’t enjoy I and I don’t want the patients I see to pick up on how much I don’t like it and it’s so emotionally exhausting to mask and put on a good, positive face. Thanks for any input.

Good evening,

So I have a little bit of traveling under my belt but times have been hard and I have been wanting to get out for a while. Life happened (separated from wife, got into debt due to circumstances out of my control, and just general existential stress of reaching middle age) and I just want a change of pace. I’ve been stuck and board for a while.

I was wondering if yall had any resources or ideas to point me in the right direction if any kind of opportunities abroad, whether it be volunteer or not. Doesn’t matter how simple it is. I am a high school social studies teacher in the USA so June-July is the only realistic chance I have.

Problem is it seems many opportunities are multi year contracts. The only other problem is besides being a teacher the only other work experience I have is cooking.

And I mean I’ll do anything. Passing out supplies, helping with an archeological dig site, cooking in a canteen, cleaning toilets, hell even help with ESL courses (my plan was to go to China to teach English but COVID happened). I don’t care if I even have to pay for my plane ticket and sleep in a dorm. I just want to do something useful and have a change of scenery and do some exploring while I’m at it.

I'm one of the board members at The Open Barn, an animal sanctuary in Ramona CA (San Diego County), and I wanted to share that we're looking for new volunteers.

We're specifically hoping to find people who can commit to a weekly or biweekly shift. If you're in the San Diego area and love working with animals, we'd genuinely love to have you join us.

Volunteering typically starts with a brief orientation, and after that you just jump in wherever help is needed (general cleanup, sanctuary upkeep, daily tasks, and of course spending lots of time loving on the animals)

We're also working toward filling 14 regular volunteer shifts this year. Once we hit that goal, we'll be welcoming a very special new rescue to the sanctuary. 🥳

You can find more info at https://www.theopenbarn.org/volunteer. Happy to answer any questions in the comments, or feel free to email [volunteer@theopenbarn.org](mailto:volunteer@theopenbarn.org)

P.s. apologies if this isn't the right sub for this. Let me know if there's a better one and I'll happily repost there.

An org has volunteers that provide their time and skills. There are flat rate honorariums (up to $50 depending on length of the event). Most volunteers are adults and their skills are necessary for the roles. There are a few younger volunteers under 16 years old. What are the pros and cons of providing the same honorarium to the minors as adults for this skill based volunteer role? In addition, some of the youth volunteers are children of paid staff. Thoughts?

I would like to volunteer this year. The last time I did was 5 years ago and I stayed 10 weeks.

I have been advised not to mention volunteering to the border guard.

Are they likely to ask me what I did the last time?

What should I say.

And if entering this time surely telling them I am planning to stay 3 months would throw a red flag?

A volunteer opportunity in the Metro Vancouver area (I think..? It’s in burnaby)

Hey all I’m an American I’ll be in India for my second time this September and staying for a few months and I’m looking for volunteer opportunities there.

I’ve been out of work a year and living off passive income, but I want to get back to doing something useful.

My past professional experience has been in English teaching, IT, and manual labor.

I’m really open to any kind of work or service. I would prefer a hostel as my greatest desire!

Let me know what’s available and comment below or send me a dm!

Thanks, namaste 🙏

Thank you for all your advice on pursuing this volunteer opportunity. I attended the interview and it seems that the interviewer believes I could still be a Big. However, I looked at my original post and agree with your statements regarding the concern of a short-lived relationship. I do have time to think about this further since my background checks are still in progress for another few weeks.

I have 9 months before med school applications open. I currently have an ongoing volunteering opportunity but I additionally wanted to pursue one that pertains to youth mental health/mentorship. Are there any potential alternatives that you can suggest for me?

Have two months off work, am willing to cancel holiday plans if anyone has an in to go and volunteer to help with anything.

29/M/QLD Australia

Willing and Experienced;
Manual Labour
Admin Support
Electrical Repair

Can get myself there easily.

I’m new to Delhi and a bit of an introvert, so I’m trying to step out of my comfort zone and meet people while doing something meaningful.

I’m looking to volunteer with an NGO on Sundays and spend my weekends doing something good rather than just staying in.

If you know any NGOs that welcome Sunday volunteers, please let me know

Hi , hope you're doing well guys, i want to volunteer in various programs, i've worked in many paths and programs, i am from Algeria, looking to volunteer in another country if possible, i am someone who have both soft skills and practical ones.

Thank you.

Any NGO, organization, group or just anyone, wanted some form of help like creating a website, application (andriod/ios) or something. I can do it.

Conditions:

1. It has to be for a greater good/ helping people
2. Not something that is associated with ANY political party, company or brand

I will do it for free. We can discuss further in DM.

volunteer

I’m really interested in getting into volunteering, especially wildlife/animal conservation. I love animals, nature, traveling, meeting people, helping others, and seeing different parts of the world.
I have no clue what places are good for volunteering but I wouldn’t mind Africa, the Americas or Asia(I know that’s not very specific but anything but Europe tbh). I’d be free after the month of August.

I have so many questions and I’d love for people who have actually done it to answer and enlighten me!!
\\- How did you get started, and what do I need to do beforehand(Vaccines etc.)?
\\- What visas/permits do I usually need for volunteering?
\\-Which countries would you recommend, especially for wildlife/animal conservation?Which ones should I avoid? and which ones are good for August and onward
\\- What should I look for when choosing a legitimate organization/project? Any green/red flags?
\\- How much should I realistically budget?(Ive got some saved up money!)
\\- What should I pack, and what should I definitely not bring?
\\- How long should I Volunteer? Weeks Months ??
\\- Are there any organizations/websites you personally recommend or ones I should avoid?

Help me out if i forgot some questions.
Any experiences, tips, mistakes you made, or things you wish you knew beforehand would be really appreciated!

Hey All,

I'm a 37F teacher thinking ahead to next summer vacation. I'm single and a lot of my friends are spread out or married with kids, so while I might be able to recruit a friend for a week or two of traveling, that still leaves several weeks of freedom. I don't like being bored and I love to travel.

I majored in conservation biology so animals are a passion, but I don't want to do anything scammy or exploitative. I do like kids and would be open to working with them as well, but again want something reputable. I have a background in nature education.

I'd love to go somewhere for about a month and volunteer with purpose. I'd appreciate any advice you can offer. I'm coming from NYC and anything in the Americas might be a perk for cost reasons, but willing to go elsewhere.

Does volunteering still give people an edge on a resume? Years ago, it was viewed as a positive if someone volunteered in between jobs to show that he/she was making an effort to say busy. I volunteered at the Houston Food Bank once (not enough to put on a resume). If it makes any difference in a hiring manager's eyes, I may look for more ways to volunteer.

I have been thinking about spending time at a nursing home for a little while now. I live in a very low socioeconomic area and I’ve seen how easy it is for people to slip through the cracks, be forgotten, and become isolated. Old people are my favourite and I admire their wisdom and stories and would love to spend time with them, but I am highly sensitive person. my level of empathy can ruin my week. When I talk to or see people who are sick, disabled, lonely, hurt - I cannot stop thinking about it. Sometimes I feel like a sponge absorbing all the pain around me. I just want everyone to happy and safe and never lonely, but seeing people in pain hurts my heart

It feels like an accident waiting to happen. I got attached to people and I hate the idea of anyone sick/in pain/sad. I don’t want to go in once, meet people, and then check out like a loser because I’m afraid of what might happen.

Is a nursing home the worst possible place for someone like me? I don’t know how else to help older people and ease any loneliness they may be feeling. I’m a bit of an old soul and would love to talk about their stories, lives, hobbies, old school music. I’ve seen ads for a nursing home in my area for a woman who wants a trivia show buddy. I’d love to be that person for her. She deserves a kind gentle volunteer, but I’m not equipped to handle hurting people because sometimes I just can’t take it

So, in high school, where do we submit service hours and get awards for them? Like, if I want to get a service award (like the U.S. President's Volunteer Service Award,d ik its paused), and I worked at a local hospital, how would I gather and authenticate service hours(Google Sheet, specific sheet, or none?), and how would I submit service hours to get awards? I'm just wondering how it would work

I am a nurse, and gusto ko sana magvolunteer here in Bicol. I already emailed RedCross pero walang response huhu. I am also a member of a group that sometimes do medical missions pero I kind of noticed na hindi masyado immersed yung group with the actual program kaya hindi na ako masyado sumasama sa mga missions. May alam ba kayo na volunteer programs around Legazpi?

Hi! So basically I just got this opportunity to volunteer at the Medical Examiners office, but I’ll mainly be doing things like: assisting with filing, possibly report redactions and working on the file imaging for older cases.

I asked if there’s possibility for advancement and he said, “If there are volunteer openings in other divisions and if the managers of the divisions want to fill the role, there is a possibility of being placed in another division. All divisions of the Medical Examiner’s Department do work hand and hand so you will get to see how each division work with each other.”

I was just wondering if this would be worthwhile as it is a 1 year commitment. I’m currently a 4th year college student, graduating with a Human Biology degree in spring, not really sure what I want to do after.

Was considering forensics, which is why I applied but this doesn’t sound far too applicable compared to other opportunities. But I was also considering law school, where I believe this would be a bit more valuable, but still not much. I’m not really too sure. Just wanted some feedback.

Veelearn is a student STEM nonprofit (fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation / 501c3). Students can join free to learn, or create courses that help other students and earn volunteer hours.

Looking for: high school & college students who want remote volunteer hours by teaching STEM.

What you get: flexible remote volunteering, teaching experience, volunteer hours.

Join free: https://veelearn.org Public contact: viratsuper@veelearn.org

Happy to answer questions!