Good morning everyone,
I am looking to do charity work for one year straight. Starting in February of 2024 my job is giving me a years salary to go do charity work of any sort.
So my question is, what kind of charity needs help around central Pennsylvania, USA?
I know there are soup kitchens and some popular ones like Habitat for Humanity, but how do I help the ones that might not have as many people helping them?
I apologize if this isn’t the correct place to post this, I’m still very new to Lemmy.
Thank you
If I had the time, I would volunteer as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). What’s a “court appointed special advocate” you ask? Well, when kids go through the family court system, often because they’ve been removed from their home for their own welfare, entered the foster care system, etc. the court assigns them an “advocate”. The advocate’s job is to build a rapport with the child, check in with them regularly, appear with them in court, keep the court updated on how things are going, and even make recommendations to the judge regarding the child’s care. As an advocate, you represent the child and only the child. You get to be a voice for them in this process.
It’s a hard job and it can require a strong stomach. Kids who wind up in the court system have often been through hell. Some of the things you’ll see and hear are awful and will make you feel sad or angry. Some people can be incredibly cruel even to their own children. I’d like to do this myself at some point because I think if I were able to help make even one kids life a little better, it would be worth it.
Oh my gosh, I’m surprised that I didn’t even think of this! This is toss up between Peace Corp and this! Honestly, I’m more interested in this but I’d hate to do this only for a year or so. I’d feel like I’d get sucked into it. Thank you, I’ll see if this is something I can qualify for.
Wow that’s pretty generous of your employer. What industry are you in if you don’t mind sharing? Just curious as I’ve never heard of a company that is willing to shoulder a year’s worth of salary for their employee to do something else.
I seen this in companies that give a sabbatical year at the 5-year or maybe 7-year anniversary.
But most often a gap year is when a company’s exercising a non-compete, so you can do whatever you want for the year and get your base salary, but you can’t work for a competitor. And some people will use that year to take a long vacation, or volunteer, anything that doesn’t bring income in. Because usually in these circumstances any income you get is detracted from your base salary. So there’s no incentive to make money for that year.
He is a visionary, he just wants things to happen and we’re left standing around trying to figure out how to make it work.
We’re a siding construction company. I don’t know if I’m allowed to share it on the site here. But I can send you a link to who we are what what we’re planning to do next year.
When I started here that was a huge selling point for me. They told me about this year off to do community service and I was like, that’s beyond crazy. But as we talked about it each week and started seeing the numbers add up, it’s insane how easy it is to make it happen.
Good luck. Ever since I stopped being a teenager every application I have put in for charity work has been declined followed by a request for money.
What the hell. I feel like actual hardwork should be worth way more than just money.
Maybe different in America, but here in Finland I’ve never been asked to pay myself so I could volunteer. And I’ve been in few different places. And I also haven’t needed to provide any kind of CV to do volunteering (nobody has asked for such information).
Sometimes I’m offered free food, free products, free fun time and even one-time payments (they pay me - which I still find strange since I haven’t gotten used to it!).
Charity explorers probably a good resource to investigate your local charities. But something you feel passionate about is important, especially if it’s a full year.
If you want to travel, the Peace corps could be an option. Or volunteering at a lifestyle organization, like as a park ranger, or an animal shelter attendant. Whatever your passions are
Thank you so much! I looked into charity explorers and I don’t think I would be too much of a help for them.
However, the peace corp is something I’ve never heard of and this seems amazing. I was looking for something local, but this is too amazing to pass up on. Depending on how much time I have in between doing this, I might just volunteer for something local on my own time. Thank you again!
Peace corps is amazing but it’s quite a process to get in and I believe it’s a 2 year commitment. If you want to do that you’ll likely need to quit your job entirely.
I saw that it was a 2 year program but when I dug in a bit more, they have 3-12 options. I was looking at some 7 month programs.
The best charity work in terms of bang for the buck is to do what you do for a living but for free. E.g., if you’re a programmer, contribute to an opem source project. If you’re a lawyer, do pro bono work. If you’re a builder, go repair poor people’s houses etc etc.
I would love to use my knowledge that I know how to help people but thw biggest issues is:
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Finding who needs that help other than word of mouth and it’s usually people who are lazy (from what I found so far)
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Even small stuff requires a bit of money to be able to fix. I’m still paying off my student loans, medical bills, car payment, etc. I can spend about $50-$100 per week to help with small supplies here and there but I’d also like to save up for a house some day.
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Honestly something that’s worth looking into is building homes with habitat for humanity (or any other organizations doing the same thing).
It’s pretty strenuous exercise and is good for you. Make sure to not abuse your body however and learn how to avoid doing so (i.e keeping back straight and squatting instead of bending over).
The most important aspect is learning carpentry, which is extremely good knowledge to have. It’s not just learning a new skill and an option for a new career but its the money it saves you. A carpenter is a jack of all trades and is far from just framing 2x4s. You learn a little plumbing, some electrician work, framing, finishing and repairing drywall and some more.
Granted a lot of it is pretty surface level but for a lot of repairs and installs around the house it’s all you need. Instead of paying like 1000$ for someone go install a toilet, do it yourself. Install outlets and light switches yourself, build basic custom furniture and shelves yourself. You become very self sufficient and it can save you so much money.
