Parent Talk Today

Making The Holidays Meaningful

While the holidays may inspire thoughts of volunteering your family's time to help others, your ever-expanding to-do list may keep you from actually checking the newspaper for volunteer opportunities or picking up the phone. But don’t wait until next year. Right now, there are dozens of kid-friendly volunteer opportunities available — right near your home.

When I visited the Web site for VolunteerMatch, a national non-profit organization, I simply typed in my ZIP code, chose how far I was willing to travel, and found a whopping 192 volunteer opportunities — all within 10 miles of my front door. Volunteers in my home town can read stories to homeless children in a family housing shelter, raise funds for wildlife conservation, deliver hot meals to house-bound seniors, create encouraging cards for people with life-threatening illnesses (something even younger children can help with) and much more.

Interested? Just sign-up, via e-mail, on the spot. (Non-profit organizations who wish to list volunteer opportunities can simply go to the "post" section of the site to register.) VolunteerMatch offers a huge database of volunteer opportunities, with more than 36,000 listings from approximately 35,000 national, regional and local organizations.

As a result, the site has amassed a matchmaking record that would make even Cupid a little envious: The service, which is free to both volunteers and organizations, was first launched in 1998. To date, more than 2,300,000 matches have been made between volunteers and non-profit organizations nationwide.

The site is a piece of cake to use. And because organizations can post their needs at a moment’s notice, enthusiastic volunteers can be identified quickly — often the same day. No computer? No excuse. The nice folks at VolunteerMatch will be glad to help you find your perfect match. Call 415-241-6868. (Sorry, there’s no toll-free number available.)

According to VolunteerMatch president Deborah Dinkelacker, the organization started as a simple philanthropic idea to connect volunteers with charities. "Now the Web site is a viable tool for assisting anyone or anything — disaster victims, children in need, the hungry, endangered animals, the environment — that benefits from the services of volunteers," she says.

“Our goal is to make it easier for people to volunteer," Dinkelacker adds. Whether you and your family have an hour this afternoon or a full day every week to volunteer, “there's an organization that can benefit from your help.”

Check out these family-friendly volunteer opportunities:

°    Kids’ Planet — Click on “Defend It” on the home page followed by “Fundraise It” to help raise money to help protect the environment.

°    Kids Can Make a Difference — To help end poverty and hunger.

°    Meals on Wheels — To help bring hot meals to seniors. (Children are welcome to accompany their parents in making deliveries and spreading cheer.)

Sign up now, and your family will quickly learn, in a positive way, how to keep the season’s craziness in perspective. And your kids will have learned a great deal about the power — and the pleasure — of giving. There’s no better way to teach a child that the gift of his time, and his heart, is one that will be most welcome — in any season.

Tips For Volunteering Wisely:

The USA Freedom Corp Volunteer Network, along with parents who have successfully volunteered with their kids, suggest the following tips for a more successful volunteer experience for you and your family:

°    Think about the causes or issues that are important to you. Your family might already be giving money to an organization that is important to you, and that might be a good place to begin your volunteer experience.

°     Consider the skills your family has to offer. Some positions require volunteers who have previous familiarity with certain equipment, for example. Are your kids old enough to take on the challenges of the volunteer position you’re considering?

°     Combine your goals. Look for volunteer opportunities that will also help your family achieve your other goals. For example, if you want to stay fit, pick an active volunteer opportunity, such as cleaning a park. Or, for families with older kids, try volunteering at a food bank that teaches cooking skills.

°     Don't over-commit your schedule. Make sure the volunteer hours you want to give fit into your hectic life, so that you don't frustrate your family, exhaust yourself or shortchange the organization you're trying to help.

While the holidays may inspire thoughts of volunteering your family's time to help others, your ever-expanding to-do list may keep you from actually checking the newspaper for volunteer opportunities or picking up the phone. But don’t wait until next year. Right now, there are dozens of kid-friendly volunteer opportunities available — right near your home.

When I visited the Web site for VolunteerMatch, a national non-profit organization, I simply typed in my ZIP code, chose how far I was willing to travel, and found a whopping 192 volunteer opportunities — all within 10 miles of my front door. Volunteers in my home town can read stories to homeless children in a family housing shelter, raise funds for wildlife conservation, deliver hot meals to house-bound seniors, create encouraging cards for people with life-threatening illnesses (something even younger children can help with) and much more.

Interested? Just sign-up, via e-mail, on the spot. (Non-profit organizations who wish to list volunteer opportunities can simply go to the "post" section of the site to register.) VolunteerMatch offers a huge database of volunteer opportunities, with more than 36,000 listings from approximately 35,000 national, regional and local organizations.

As a result, the site has amassed a matchmaking record that would make even Cupid a little envious: The service, which is free to both volunteers and organizations, was first launched in 1998. To date, more than 2,300,000 matches have been made between volunteers and non-profit organizations nationwide.

The site is a piece of cake to use. And because organizations can post their needs at a moment’s notice, enthusiastic volunteers can be identified quickly — often the same day. No computer? No excuse. The nice folks at VolunteerMatch will be glad to help you find your perfect match. Call 415-241-6868. (Sorry, there’s no toll-free number available.)

According to VolunteerMatch president Deborah Dinkelacker, the organization started as a simple philanthropic idea to connect volunteers with charities. "Now the Web site is a viable tool for assisting anyone or anything — disaster victims, children in need, the hungry, endangered animals, the environment — that benefits from the services of volunteers," she says.

“Our goal is to make it easier for people to volunteer," Dinkelacker adds. Whether you and your family have an hour this afternoon or a full day every week to volunteer, “there's an organization that can benefit from your help.”

Check out these family-friendly volunteer opportunities:

°    Kids’ Planet — Click on “Defend It” on the home page followed by “Fundraise It” to help raise money to help protect the environment.

°    Kids Can Make a Difference — To help end poverty and hunger.

°    Meals on Wheels — To help bring hot meals to seniors. (Children are welcome to accompany their parents in making deliveries and spreading cheer.)

Sign up now, and your family will quickly learn, in a positive way, how to keep the season’s craziness in perspective. And your kids will have learned a great deal about the power — and the pleasure — of giving. There’s no better way to teach a child that the gift of his time, and his heart, is one that will be most welcome — in any season.

Tips For Volunteering Wisely:

The USA Freedom Corp Volunteer Network, along with parents who have successfully volunteered with their kids, suggest the following tips for a more successful volunteer experience for you and your family:

°    Think about the causes or issues that are important to you. Your family might already be giving money to an organization that is important to you, and that might be a good place to begin your volunteer experience.

°     Consider the skills your family has to offer. Some positions require volunteers who have previous familiarity with certain equipment, for example. Are your kids old enough to take on the challenges of the volunteer position you’re considering?

°     Combine your goals. Look for volunteer opportunities that will also help your family achieve your other goals. For example, if you want to stay fit, pick an active volunteer opportunity, such as cleaning a park. Or, for families with older kids, try volunteering at a food bank that teaches cooking skills.

°     Don't over-commit your schedule. Make sure the volunteer hours you want to give fit into your hectic life, so that you don't frustrate your family, exhaust yourself or shortchange the organization you're trying to help.

Charles Meets Barack

Charles is a volunteer for Barack Obama in Boulder, Colorado. He won a raffle to meet Barack at the rally in Denver on Oct. 26.

This video made me smile and made me cry. Charles' faith in the young people he's met as an Obama volunteer, and his faith in the future of this country, inspired me. I hope it inspires you, too.

One Home, Many Hopes

My Twitter buddy Warren Sukernek, over at Twittermaven (great site!), just brought to my attention something I think you'll want to know about. (I love how we can share info like this so easily through blogs!)

One Home Many Hopes is an organization that is working to improve the lives of orphaned girls in Mtwapa, Kenya. They use education and family support as ways to lift children out of cyclical poverty. Today, there are 35 parentless girls living as one family.

These girls, who had spent their earliest years surviving on Mtwapa’s streets and trash piles, now live together, attend school and care for one another. Although their lives are so much better, there could be so much more. The vision of One Home Many Hopes is to build:

• A new three-story building with each floor serving as a distinct family unit headed by a “house mother.”

• A university education for the girls so they will be able to support themselves and be agents for ending poverty in their town, region, country and continent.

• An on-site kindergarten and school, free of the prohibitive private-education fees that are common in Kenya.

They've started a campaign, Race to $20K, which will get the building started. They're asking people to donate toward their ambitious goal of raising this money over the next 26 days. You can donate here.

With the holidays coming, many of us are thinking of ways to help others around the world in a meaningful way — as opposed to adding just another sweater in a box under the Christmas tree. By making a contribution in the next three weeks to One Home Many Hopes, you know you'll be helping these girls improve their lives, not only in 2009, but beyond.

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• Join the Race to $20K - One Home Many Hopes