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Category: Volunteering

  • Why should I volunteer?

    Why should I volunteer?

    People volunteer their time for lots of different reasons. You can pick your own reasons, but here’s our top ten:

    1. You have to!

      You have to complete 40 hours of volunteer work to graduate high school in Ontario

    2. Forty hours! Sound like a long time? Over four years, you probably spend way more time than that watching TV, standing in front of the mirror or riding the bus.So, the fact you have to do 40 hours of volunteer work to graduate high school in Ontario really shouldn’t be such a big deal.Your school calls this requirement ‘community involvement’. The Ministry of Education has some rules about it, like:
      • You can’t be paid for your volunteer work.
      • You can’t skip class! You can volunteer during the summer, after school, weekends or even on your lunch or during your spare.
      • Chores you already do around the house don’t count. Unfortunately, cleaning your room isn’t volunteer work!

      Your school board has a list of pre-approved volunteer activities. Ask a teacher or guidance counsellor for the list and for the full set of rules. If what you want to do isn’t on the list, make sure you talk to your teacher first to see if your school principal will agree to it.

    3. Pump up your resume.

      When you’re looking for a job, volunteer experience helps. It shows you’re responsible and gives you references who can prove you do good work.

    4. It feels good to help people.

      Try helping somebody and see how you feel – you just might become addicted!

    5. Make the world a better place.

      Making the world better, safer, happier, healthier or cleaner starts with small projects so get in there and get your hands dirty.

    6. Learn something about yourself.

      You might be a great leader or more outgoing than you ever thought – only one way to find out – try new things!

    7. Figure out what kind of career you want.

      Thinking about becoming a doctor? Volunteer at a hospital!

    8. Activism is hot!

      If you’re passionate about causes like the environment or human rights, there are lots of charities and groups you can join.

    9. Meet new people.

      Your best friends might be the coolest, but volunteering is a chance to meet a whole new circle of people.

    10. It’s fun.

      If you volunteer doing something you love and are interested in, the work you do won’t feel like work at all.

    11. Prove adults wrong.

      If you think adults don’t give teens any respect, here’s your chance to prove you care about your community and are ready to lend a hand.

  • Need Volunteer Hours? Join a Mob

    Need Volunteer Hours? Join a Mob

    The student’s quest for 40 community service hours is not always a pretty one. Sponge-bathing senior citizens and picking up garbage are healthy for the community, but often so uninspiring to the average teenager that procrastination happens and some diploma-getting is in jeopary.

    What if you could find volunteer work that you’re passionate about, that gives you larger opportunities, that is part of a worldwide social activist movement? The Me to We (Mob)ilizers are students all across Canada, working from the ground to promote and support the charity Free The Children and facilitate real social change in the world.

    It’s all about going from thinking ‘me’, with selfish or self-centred motives and aspirations, to thinking ‘we’, with motivation to do right for all. If you are seeking to volunteer and get involved as a global citizen on a larger scale, consider joining the Me to We MOB.

    The entire enterprise began when a 12 year old Craig Kielburger read a news article about a 12 year old in South Asia who had died as a result of horrible child labour exploitation. This inspired him to make a difference. In 1995 Craig began speaking out for children’s rights in different small venues throughout Ontario. His vision caught on and late that year, he founded the Free the Children organization, with what he described as the motivation to “free the children from poverty, and free the children from the notion that they are powerless to affect change”.

    This means that while we work to end the enslavement and exploitation of children far from home, we can help children here to understand how valuable they are to the world, becoming enlightened and empowered.

    Today, Free the Children is the world’s largest network of children helping children through education, with more than one million youth in 45 countries involved in its education and development programs (like the Me to We initiatives).

    When an organization gets so large, it can become difficult to stay connected to the individual people while continuing to bring new, passionate youth into the cycle. That’s where the MOB comes in, taking Free the Children back to its grassroots and spreading the message from the ground up.

    Erica Baker is a MOB-Lead for Canada’s West Coast and a summer intern with Free the Children headquarters. When asked to describe what the MOB is Erica’s response, “Can I just say amazing?” was one of honest passion.

    “We are the masses. We are the movement. We are the MOB,” Erica said, “a vast group of students operating out of many cities across Canada, who are serious about making a mark on the social issues of our time. We organize events and fundraisers to benefit Me to We and Free the Children, and bring awesome, motivated young people together from across the country to make change.” Erica continued.

    She revealed that this year, the (Mob)ilizers are supporting one village in India, one in Ecuador, and one in Haiti, with funds going toward building houses, schools, and health clinics there. (Mob)ilizers have the option of going to one of these villages at the end of the school year to see exactly what their efforts are accomplishing.

    Applications are open until July 25th for next year’s MOB. To check out more or apply for a MOB position in your city, visithttp://www.metowe.com/movement/mobilizers/join/.