In a recent post we talked about the volunteer vacations offered by the American Hiking Society. For three decades this group has been giving hardy volunteers opportunities to connect with the great out of doors in a whole new way. If you’re really intrigued about the possibilities of volunteer vacations, you don’t have to look much further than local churches.
Short-term mission trips have been a mainstay of youth groups for years. Both of my daughters visited Mexico and inner-city Chicago on such outings, and the organizers are always looking for adults willing to go along. Friends of ours just returned from the Gulf Coast where they worked for a week as part of a church group helping to rebuild the area. Last June a group of ten adults from our church traveled to Nome, Alaska, where they spent a week doing maintenance work on a denomination-owned radio station.
Some college students forego the beaches of Florida and other warm-weather hot spots to donate their spring breaks to various service projects. In fact, the American Hiking Society also runs an alternative spring break program. So if you’re seriously considering a volunteer vacation, you have plenty of choices. Many of these volunteer vacations may take you a long way from home turf. Many of them are domestic, but a good number of the offerings from the organizations I list here provide a chance to take your volunteering skills abroad.
www.charityguide.org. This one actually lets you pick a cause near and dear to your heart. Once you choose a cause (animal welfare, children’s issues, poverty—to name a few), you can review a list of volunteer trips to match your passion.
www.globalvolunteers.org. USA Today calls this one the “Granddaddy of the volunteer vacation movement.” They support 100 host communities in the U.S. and 20 foreign countries.
www.unitedplanet.org. This group runs trips from one to 52 weeks in 50 countries around the world. United Planet welcomes volunteers of all skill levels and ages. (Actress Hilary Swank volunteered with this group, so maybe you’ll work beside a celebrity!)
www.globeaware.org. This group offers one-week trips to several foreign countries. No special skills are required, but you are encouraged to immerse yourself in the culture while helping on community projects.
In the short space I have here, I can’t explore costs and other details. But remember: Just because you’re volunteering doesn’t mean the trips are free. Individual programs vary widely, but chances are you’ll get breaks on accommodations and food. Getting to where you’re going, however, is probably going to be on you.
Still, such programs may be a welcome chance of pace if you have the spirit of adventure and a yen to contribute time and talent. Of course, you’ll have to check with your tax authority to be sure, but some or all of the costs may be tax-deductible.
That is another bonus you may be able to add to all the obvious ones—seeing new places, doing new things that stretch your comfort zone, meeting new friends and making a personal contribution to a worthwhile cause.
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