Hellobee Boards

I volunteer at a library. 'Course, I'm also looking for paid work there...

@mrbee: Children's section volunteer (though I was assigned to children's - didn't choose it.) Shelving, helping patrons, cutting out stuff for crafts, setting up for events, labeling/stuffing envelopes, decorating, taking phone calls - basically anything other than planning events and buying books. Oh, and I don't have a computer password, so I can't process books unless an employee is there.

I was a girl scout leader for a while, but quit when I wanted to become pregnant. My parents always encouraged us to volunteer though. One of my favorite days at temple is mitzvah day, the whole temple gets together to do different types of volunteer work. It's awesome.

no, but i'd love to. i did volunteer at a volunteer ems in high school, but more to do "community service" for college apps. but i do really want to do something... i always have an excuse though. after the kids. we'll see what else comes up.

My husband volunteers with a group of work colleagues once a month by going up to the earthquake/tsunami area and doing cleanup. I had not been able to go because I was pregnant but now that LO has hatched, I will be able to go with them.

Yes, I volunteer my time/resources and also donate financially to several charities and organizations. I think its super important to give back when and how you can –I think our society is only as strong as our weakest members and how we treat the most vulnerable people shows a lot about a persons/nations character.

We were encouraged to volunteer growing up, and already have plans on how to involve our child in “giving back” as soon as possible. Some kid friendly projects we’ve thought of would be to help prepare meals as a guest chef at Ronald McDonald houses (do easy prep tasks, tossing salads together, setting tables, etc.), or at an animal shelter (walking dogs, playing with dogs/cats, reading to dogs/cats to calm them down, etc.). There are also craft projects that would be appropriate for children, like making kitten beds from shoe boxes lined with fleece for animal shelters, or putting together backpacks of supplies for needy children.

I have done a lot of volunteer work through my church and also with my college. its very rewarding but I dont have any ideas for things that kids can help out with

My whole life is public service! Ok, not entirely. But I work in local government (think: Parks & Recreation) and we rely heavily on volunteerism. My husband and I volunteer for events a lot, especially because my best-work-friend is in charge of volunteers and when she's low on people for an event, we get called.

I don't know about the prevalence of park districts in the NYC area, but it may be something to look into. We have a lot of events that are geared towards kids and are appropriate for kids to help out at (although, older kids than Charlie, obviously. I think we let kids 8+ start volunteering with their parents? They have to be 14 or so to start volunteering on their own).

I did a bunch of random things growing up, nothing usually consistently but always something, basically whenever an opportunity came up.

Sometimes my husband volunteers and a local clinic and we used to foster puppies, hopefully we'll get more involved once we move again.

I mostly volunteer through my church's music and youth programs. I think it's important to find a cause that's close to you and that you care about, and then you'll stick with it.

My mom volunteered in the library and art literacy programs at my schools when I was younger, and I actually really liked it. I could sneak in and say hi to her between classes, and it gave us some different things to talk about at home.

My dad volunteered running the sound/media systems at our church. While it was time consuming sometimes, I liked going early with him and helping him set up all the tech equipment and doing sound checks. It was a good nerdy bonding time

I used to volunteer at a pregnancy resource center (where they encourage women to keep their pregnancies). Unlike other organizations that shall remain unnamed!
Once I got pregnant and had the baby I haven't been able to volunteer. Hoping to again soon though!