by Gloria Edmonson Nelson

Created on: December 19, 2007

College students who are interested in both sharing as well as staying safe should think about donating some of their time to help the less fortunate. Not only will this be a life-changing experience; it can be used on their resume as well as toward education credit. (In the English classes; write term papers about the experience).

There are many countries near the United States, so one does not have to go as far as Africa or India, for example, to volunteer. (My stepdaughter went to China for a year when she was enrolled at UNLV). For example, poor countries like Mexico, Belize, Panama, etc., are not expensive for travel or hotel.

If you are interested in donating some time; pursue these endeavors at least six months to a year ahead. There are several ways you can do this:

1) Ask your counselor at school for resources
2) Ask the Librarian at your school or go to your local library
3) Check out the Internet sites by searching under "volunteer opportunities."
4) Ask at your church or a local church
5) Ask family and friends

You do not have to travel out of the United States to contribute your time. If you live in a large city; certainly there are homeless people who need assistance. For example, in the Los Angeles area; there are over 75,000 people on Skid Row who need many types of assistance, and there are many shelters and organizations who need people to simply serve in the food lines.

There are many Salvation Army's, Goodwill's, domestic violence shelters and child abuse organizations that need people to sort and label clothing, accept donations, drive to pick up donations, etc.

There are elementary and junior high schools that need volunteers to read, tutor after school in math or algebra, for example. Then there are schools that want college students to simply share their experiences as to what it takes to graduate and/or discipline oneself, to stay out of trouble, as well as how to excel.

There is so much work to be done during Spring Breaks (as well as during the summer) that teachers and counselors should ask that a few hours be given with someone during Spring Break. This should then be reported after one returns back to school. It should not be a requirement; but those students who wanted to obtain extra credit would be asked to volunteer at least several hours to an endeavor that they chose.

Volunteering is such an awesome task that brings rewards that are unexplainable. I have volunteered at United Way as a telephone interviewer for indigent people who needed services, as a voter registrant for a Mayor's campaign, as a skid row food server, clothing give-aways, etc. The emotional benefits that you receive from volunteerism; you do not receive from a monetary payment!

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