For most of my life, I’ve been an avid volunteer.I love the feeling of giving back to others, animals and my community, and I’m firm believer that everyone should find his or her own way to do so on a regular basis.

Yes, there have certainly been times when life’s demands have proved too great and my volunteering efforts have fallen to the wayside, but I always make a point to give back with my time and my money whenever possible.

My Volunteer Efforts

In the past few years, I’ve kicked up my volunteering and giving back efforts to include past projects such as my 30 on 30 adventure where I completed 30 random acts of kindness on the day of my 30th birthday. Two years ago, I launched my Operation Giving Back that I plan to continue this December as well.

With each new project or initiative I begin, I find myself feeling more rewarded than ever when I’m giving my time and energy (and sometimes money) to people who are less fortunate. I also love to help others in general, which is why I spent 2 years of my time during my first master’s degree working part-time at a group home for adults with mental illness. While it was certainly a challenging position, it was immensely rewarding to see those people work hard to change their life circumstances and create better opportunities for themselves in the future.

International Volunteer Opportunities

I’ve also expanded my volunteer efforts on a global scale, including doing some work in other countries. When it comes to volunteer work Sydney was one of my favorite places to not only explore, but to reach out to local residents in need of some assistance (I worked with the City of Sydney to help with some local events happening while I was visiting).

Not only is volunteering in a foreign country a great way to connect with the local residents and learn about a different culture, but it’s a great way to extend a mission of helping others into places outside of your home.

Corporate Volunteer Opportunities

If striking out on your own isn’t of interest and you’re not into the idea of volunteering abroad, there are many ways to get involved including through your place of work and with large non-profit companies whose missions are based on the efforts of their volunteers.

When choosing how or where to spend your time and efforts, ensure you’re signing up to work with a place or group of people who you have common interests with outside of simply volunteering. Study the mission of the company and understand that volunteering there means you’ll need to work to extend that mission.

What have some of your past volunteer efforts included?