Community work feels satisfying to do, benefits those in need, and looks great for your future applications. There’s plenty you can do, from volunteering at animal shelter or food bank to supplying your driving skills to much needed transportation services. Transportation is difficult yet so necessary for certain members of our community such as the elderly or disabled. Certain charities also require the transportation of their goods and services, and need able-bodied hands on deck to transport supplies to other nearby headquarters or to events they’re partaking in. Volunteer your driving and help out those in need with these nationwide services!
Road to Recovery
Provided by the American Cancer Society, the Road to Recovery provides home-to-hospital transportation to cancer patients. Timely meeting of appointments to receive their treatments are important for these patients to best monitor their condition while remaining at the comfort of home. The American Cancer Society has an online application to complete, wherein a representative will get in contact with you to discuss the program and interview your expectations, experience, and schedule availability. After a background check and a ninety minute training course, you’ll be matched to patients in your area and their hospital to begin transportation.
Meals on Wheels
A growing number of disabled or elderly want to live at home, but are unable to drive to the grocery store to get food and supplies for themselves. Many are also isolated, with few interactions to be had with neighbors or family. Improve their quality of life and help our elders stay independent by allowing them to live in the space they want by joining Meals on Wheels. You deliver snacks, drinks, and premade meals to needing patients, elders, and disabled individuals and stay a while to offer company and conversation, providing much needed social interaction for some of these individuals.
Adopt-a-Highway/Sponsor-a-Highway
The folks at Neuwerth Cars of Wilmington, NC suggested this volunteer to us. It’s an opportunity to preserve the environment and protect wildlife through Adopt-a-Highway, a maintenance organization that volunteers to clean and maintain sections of local roadways. Businesses and volunteers help with their money and time to rid the roadsides of litter, provide landscaping, and sweep trash, keeping your neighborhoods healthy and beautiful. The company has also expanded with its Adopt-a-Beach branch of operations, cleaning our fragile waterways of trash to keep oceans cleaner!
Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America
While Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America doesn’t inherently require a vehicle to participate in, a trip outside the norm can be extremely beneficial for an at-risk youth who need breaks from their usual neighborhoods for a while. You’re paired one-on-one with a kid who matches you, wherein you provide enrichment and positive reinforcement to help these kids reach their full potential! Help a kid play, relax, and have fun in an environment or at an experience they’ve never been to before.
Volunteer opportunities are everywhere, and lending your driving skills is a greatly appreciative act of kindness that many will be grateful for. We so easily take for granted the freedom driving provides for us, that we forget people don’t always have the privilege or ability to join us on the road for their own benefit. Do some research around your county to see the opportunities these and other organizations lend to your neighbors!
Earthgarage – Greener Car. Fatter Wallet.