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WVU Alum Creates National Database for Volunteers!

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Meg Workman
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Devin Sears
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WVU chapter.

VolunteerUs.com is a new online community service network where organizations can post volunteer opportunities and students can seek them out.

Beginning last November, CEO Avi Dixit, a West Virginia University Alumni, began brainstorming ideas about this web-site and within a few short months a fully functioning business was created. With the help of Sam Boyce, Vice President of operations, and a few other team members, the future of this internet based network is looking bright.

“The idea for this site really stems from talking to people who previously had no accessible way of documenting their volunteer hours for their major,” said Dixit. “It is essentially the Facebook of community service opportunity.”

Signing up for an account on the site is easy and the best of all free! Members will be directed to a page where they can add a picture, post their resume, and search internships and volunteer jobs of their interest.

Locally opportunities are offered to work for organizations such as the American Red Cross, PACE, and the Mylan Park Foundation and are available today on the site. Once the events have elapsed, the student can apply for verification of their work and logged hours will appear when they sign in with a simple user name and password.

By joining VolunteerUs.com, students will be getting more credibility for the work they do in their major, for personal satisfaction and in greek life. Members can also rest assured  that the jobs they seek out are trustworthy because each organization goes through a screening process before their advertisement is posted to the site.

In the future, Dixit hopes that VolunteerUs.com will take off and become the main source for volunteer work. He has confidence that if this happens eventually they can lobby for a tax deduction for volunteer hours put in, and offer a way to blend philanthropic endeavors with regular community service work. 

If you or an organization you work for are interested in joining the VolunteersUs community please visit the site at VolunteerUs.com and join for free today! Getting credit for your active work in community service will never be easier! 

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Devin is a sophomore at West Virginia University, class of 2013. She was a direct-admit into the School of Journalism as a freshman, where she is now majoring in Public Relations with two minors in Political Science and Professional Writing & Editing. Devin started her journalism career in Fairmont, WV. In high school, she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 Maple Leaves Yearbook, which went on to receive a Silver Medal in the Columbia Scholastic Program of Achievement. She was a columnist for her local newspaper, The Times West Virginian, for two years. During her senior year in high school, Devin was a columnist for a national magazine, Gladys, where she went on to become the Public Relations Manager. At WVU, Devin is a member of Chi Omega Sorority. In her spare time, Devin enjoys drinking skinny vanilla lattes, watching Saturday Night Live (re-runs, of course, because she is never home on a Saturday night), and buying cocktail dresses. When she grows up, Devin wants to be a lawyer.