Let’s continue our discussion of service opportunities by looking at some interesting alternatives.

Examples of International Volunteer Organizations
If going global is more your style there are many international organizations seeking your help.  Here are just two examples.

Idealist.org (Action Without Borders) – www.idealist.org - Acton Without Borders is independent of any government, political ideology or religious creed. Its work is guided by the common desire of its members and supporters to find practical solutions to social and environmental problems, in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect. This Web site maintains an extensive list of volunteer options by country or state. Searching for Massachusetts for example, yielded 380 organizations offering all kinds of volunteer opportunities.

Volunteers for Peace (VFP) - www.vfp.org - This is a non-profit membership organization that has been placing American volunteers in overseas workcamps since 1981. For a membership fee of $15, VFP will send you, in early April, its annual International Workcamp Directory, which lists detailed information on over 800 workcamps in more than 60 countries worldwide.

The registration fee of $225 per workcamp covers everything. (Many volunteers take part in multiple workcamps in a season.) VFP works directly with the host organizations to arrange for your participation. Volunteers are responsible for getting to the site. You can contact them at Volunteers for Peace, 43 Tiffany Road, Belmont, VT 05730, or by phone at 1-802-259-2759 and by email at vfp@vfp.org.

Virtual Volunteering
Strange as it might seem, on-line or virtual volunteering is becoming a very recognized way to give some of your time to worthy projects. Many people actively search for volunteer opportunities they can complete via home or work computers because of time constraints, personal preference, a disability or a home-based obligation that prevents them from commuting to a volunteer locale.

Volunteering via your computer allows anyone to contribute time and expertise to nonprofit organizations, schools, government offices and other agencies that utilize volunteer services. Agencies benefit too in that they can then use more volunteers, further cultivate community support and augment staff resources and existing volunteer programs.

Virtual volunteering is also known as online volunteering, cyber service, online mentoring, teletutoring and various other names. To get more information about virtual volunteering go to www.serviceleader.org/vv.

Community Service Vacations
 Want to spend your vacation doing good for others? If so, then community service vacations are the perfect venue for you. Type the term “volunteer vacations” into Google and you’ll get over half a million hits. An overwhelming number to be sure, but cruising through a few of these will give you an excellent idea of what’s out there to pick from both nationally and internationally. If this interests you then do a little homework and spend some time surfing the sites. In the interests of space here are just a few.

 One of the best sites is Volunteer America, a portal site that provides anyone, no matter what your age, with opportunities for volunteer vacations on public lands all across America. This site offers information on organizations and service programs designed to combine good works with having fun. Their extensive web site can be found at www.volunteeramerica.net/vacations.htm.

 Here are just a few examples of service vacations.
 
The American Hiking Society (AHS) – Create and maintain hiking trails. Find out more on their site at www.americanhiking.org.

Wilderness Volunteers - Work with public land agencies including the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Find out more at www.wildernessvolunteers.org.

Passport in Time (PIT) – Work with professional archaeologists and historians on projects including archaeological excavation, survey, archival research, historic structure restoration, gathering oral histories, or writing interpretive brochures. Find them at www.passportintime.com.
   
The Sierra Club – Work on projects related to the conservation efforts of the club. Find them at environment, in return giving participants a sense of ownership to the land. Their site is located at www.sierraclub.org.

Conclusion
Investigating these local, state, national, governmental and international organizations will give you a wonderful overview of the myriad of opportunities out there that will give you the chance to involve yourself in community service. And remember–by doing so, you will also continue to learn and grow, enriching and enhancing your later years. Community Service is too good an opportunity to pass up!

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom. M.Ed., is the author of "Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years". Her book, according to Ken Dychtwald, is a “compelling and user-friendly guide to lifelong learning and, in many ways, a complete redefinition of the after-50 years.” Nancy also directs the Elderhostel Institute Network (EIN), North America's largest and most respected educational network for older adults. More than 360 lifelong learning institutes with over 150,000 members are affiliated with the Network. For more information – Elderhostel Institute Network Read Nancy’s story on her Journal Visit her Forum Group LearnTalk Nancy maintains a web site at LearningLater.com