Most college students spend their summer working on their tans, hanging out with friends, road tripping around, and in other words, doing a whole lot of nothing. Want to make your summer mean more? Grab a group of friends and donate your time to volunteering! You will get to spend time with friends and make a difference in your community. Here are four examples of places you can volunteer or ways you can make a difference this summer:
Hospital
Hospitals, especially children’s hospitals, are always looking for volunteers. The University of Iowa Children’s hospital, for example, is more than happy to welcome all who are interested in visiting the patients. Read to the kids, play games, make tie blankets for gifts, send them cards, do anything you think would put a smile on their face. Sometimes all they need is someone to spend time with. Take a day with your group of friends and make the day of a child in a children’s hospital.
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Humane Society
I do not know about you, but I love animals. I found myself spending at least two days a week last summer washing, feeding, and walking dogs for the humane society in my hometown. If you love animals as much as me, then you would absolutely love volunteering at the humane society. You can walk dogs, play with cats, or help clean the facilities. You can even get creative! Make homemade doggie treats or hold a bake sale of dog treats or cupcakes shaped like dog treats to help raise money for the humane society. You could even become a foster parent for a dog or cat. The experience you get from it depends on the effort you put into it!
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Rescue Mission
A rescue mission, or homeless shelter, can be one of the hardest places to be, especially if you find yourself living there. The people in the shelter not only need help, but the people running the facility do too. Volunteers can do things like babysit for parents with children or clean the shelter. Or, just like with the humane society, get creative and have a little fun with it! Hold a Family Fun day with prizes and other donations from local businesses. Host a movie night. Do something that you think would be fun, and there is a good chance that everyone else will like it too!
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Fundraising for Your Favorite Organization
Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Make a Wish, Children’s Miracle Network, and so many more organizations need your help, but you do not have to volunteer directly for them to make a difference. Fundraise for them! Hold bake sales, host a 5k run, and create a silent action with donations from local businesses. There is so much you can do; it just takes a little time and effort to put it all together.
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By giving up a little bit of your time this summer, you can make a difference in the lives of people in your community. As a little added bonus, you can also build your resume by filling it with experiences of serving others. Enjoy your summer, and spend a little bit of it helping others!
Stay tuned for more tips and advice on how to make 2012 one of the best summers of your life! Our new column “HC Summer 101” will be your guide to everything everyone’s favorite season has to offer! If you want to see something particular in the column, let us know in the comments below! HCXO!
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