Volunteering In Your Local Community - Giving Back To Others Is Rewarding and Necessary

Volunteering in my local community has had a huge impact on my life. For more than twenty years I worked as a classroom teacher, and during that same period of time I was also a real estate broker and residential appraiser. That meant long work days, with very little time to do anything else. I did find the time to be a Big Sister and a foster parent, but my day to day life was filled with work so that I could just make ends meet and pay all of my bills.

That all changed when I decided to become an online entrepreneur in 2006. Within a year and a half I had replaced my previous income, and was only working about one third of the hours. During this time I had done some research to find out what types of volunteer opportunities were available to me, and had joined my local Rotary Club.

Rotary is an international service organization, with more than a million members worldwide. It is made up of business owners and other professionals. They had welcomed me with open arms when I first began attending the meetings in 2006, even though I was still just finding my way when it came to establishing myself as a business owner in my community.

There are many projects to choose from, and some of my favorites have included volunteering in the local schools to read and help the children in their classrooms, handing out dictionaries to the third graders (this is a joint project with our local Elk's Lodge), and recognizing the returning veterans and their families after they have served our country. Some of these young people have lost their lives in the process, and the families are moved by our outreach to them.

If you have never volunteered with a charity or other non-profit, or if you think you must have more money and time than you currently have, I encourage you to take a look at what is available in the city where you live. It turns out that I could have done much more over the years, but I had not taken the time or made the effort to find out who needed my help.

It is very rewarding to meet the people in person who are benefiting from your kindness. I grew up very poor, and when I think of the people who reached out to me during those formative years I know that they made a huge difference in the person I am today.


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