Habitat is fun. I did that years ago in college. You get to see the fruits of your labor and learn some skills while helping a needy family. They often stop by to pitch in and you get to meet them. It's like your very own "Extreme Makeover Home Edition."

 

not me to selfish.

 

i was asking if it feels worthwhile. what are the upsides and downsides?

 

to name a few....

i volunteer a ton of time with the fire department. fire school was a huge commitment but well worth it. there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction and pride in it. in addition, you frequently see appreciation and respect from those you help. also, tons of perks and cool people to meet

on my spring break trip we volunteered with the dominican dream project helping to build some of their facilities up. great opportunity to experience how blessed we all are.

this morning i volunteered with an organization that provides activities for people with disabilities (downs, autism, etc). it was very rewarding...this was the first time i did this type of activity and it gave me a new respect for those living with disabilities.

i dont have a job lined up for after graduation and dont really care where i work if im offered a job. i would love to volunteer a large portion of my summer with a fitting organization. time will tell

as for the padding the resume...well its most certainly a benefit


the only downside i can think of is the time spent away from other activities. however, i am managing just fine with school work and my other hobbies

 

Upsides - can be fulfilling, opportunity to connect with like-minded people, to some extent able to network/help career, limit feelings of 'throwing your money away', opportunity to make an impact firsthand, wide variety of organizations looking for assistance make it easy to find a match for talents.

Downsides - can be a huge drain on time, sometimes hard to set a time horizon as need is usually ongoing, organization/leadership or lack thereof can be frustrating, seems as if many need money as much as they need time

I volunteer between 10-15 hours a week, ranging from church to community service to coaching youth sports to not-for-profits to industry trade organizations. I chose to share my expertise, experience and knowledge to help others because I find it rewarding on many levels. Many of my peers think I'm loco. I guess its all what makes you happy. My advice would be to find an organization/cause that you believe in. Maybe its helping coach a sporting team, maybe its something work-related or a social-service program that you have a tie to. Try it, stay open-minded and see how it goes.

 

[QUOTE=J_inDA_s2k,Apr 12 2008, 10:53 AM]not me to selfish.