Volunteering: the possibilities and the rewards... they're endless.

Why volunteer? Well, for starters, you've now got the time.

Volunteering can open so many doors.  Starting with you: it could help spark a new idea for a career, help land you a job, learn a new skill or create friendships. For people you volunteer for: it means hope, help, compassion, new skills, companionship, and even love. For all involved: it means an emotion of compassion and an experience you'll never forget.

Check out the forum section to list your favorite volunteering ideas and experiences, or click here to upload a volunteer photo.

Here are just a few ideas and links:

Education

You're fortunate; you've got skills.   Many children and adults do not. Check your local library, or online for opportunities tutoring in your community. Libraries in many states have literacy programs that train adults to tutor members of the community. Your students could be adult literacy learners, children learning to read, English as a second language learners, adults and children who are math-challenged, prisoners trying to prepare for life on the outside, or library patrons looking for a little extra help.   Check out library and literacy programs in your state. In California, for instance, look at libraryliteracy.org for more information.

Outdoors

Would you like to open new doors for an at-risk youth or kids with special needs? Want to be help them gain skills or help build their self-esteem? Guide them into a world they've never seen? If you're an outdoor enthusiast, this is a fantastic way to help others. There are many national and local non-profits looking for volunteers who will hike, backpack, sail, surf, ski, mountain bike, horse ride, teach about the environment, raft, canoe and kayak with kids less fortunate.   Search online, ask your friends, check in with your community center. Several ideas: Big City Mountaineers, Girls, Inc., Boys & Girls Clubs and Environmental Traveling Companions.

Or, if you'd like to help the environment, check out Leave No Trace, American Hiking Society, Sierra Club, and the National Park Service. Service projects range from maintaining trails, restoring wilderness, cleaning up trash, removing non-native plants, and building bridges.

Sustenance

Even without an economic crisis, soup kitchens and food banks need help.   Did you know that seniors and children are among the hardest hit by poverty and hunger in the US? Check out your local soup kitchen to see when you can volunteer to help prepare or serve food. Call state food banks and ask how you can donate canned goods or help prepare weekly meal boxes for hungry families.   For starters, search for local opportunities through Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest).

For information on volunteering of all types, check out, Volunteer Match.