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A great opportunity to get involved, and have an impact in your community is to volunteer. Volunteering can be done all year-round and not just in big cities like New York and Washington DC. Few cities better epitomize the American spirit than Boston. For those in the area, to help reduce time finding suitable activities, we’ve arranged a list of inspiring groups that tap into Beantown’s pride and willingness to help others. Here are the best ways to volunteer in Boston.
Fresh Truck
Fresh Truck is a nonprofit mobile food market working to radically impact community health. Their efforts began in Charlestown after the neighborhood grocery store shut down and locals lost their access to readily available greens and other healthy options. Now, they have two mobile markets that travel, often, to underserved areas of Boston and encourage a healthier lifestyle by selling fruits and veggies at reasonable prices. Fresh Truck is happy to accept volunteers willing to help sell and get their hands dirty with cleanup.
Christmas in the City Party
This organization, which has hands in many projects across Mass, hosts their yearly Christmas “Winter Wonderland Extravaganza” during the holidays. The “red carpet event” occurs when they welcome Boston homeless families for an all-out fiesta featuring rides, petting zoos, live music, and Santa who provides a personalized gift to each child based on their wish list. The CITC team also provides complimentary health and dental screenings, flu shots, and haircuts. The event requires a number of volunteers for a wide array of responsibilities; usually, positions are posted on their website in October.
Cradles to Crayons
A great chance for young people to do some volunteering with their families to help teach kids the value of helping out at a young age. Many who volunteer here end up working in “The Giving Factory”, where crews sort, inspect, and pack donated items, like toys, so they can be repurposed and sent to children in need across Massachusetts. Cradles to Crayons estimate that they help upwards of 145,000 children annually.
Animal Rescue League of Boston
For all the people out there eager to volunteer and help but maybe don’t love the human element, assist in bettering the lives of some of our four-legged friends. ARLB are nearly always looking for volunteers across the greater Boston metropolitan area. Volunteering with the animals doesn’t mean constantly being smothered by puppy love, there will be some messiness involved, but many assistants talk about the rewarding moment of seeing their favorite dogs and cats meet their forever families.
The Greater Boston Food Bank
Part of the Feeding America movement, The Greater Boston Food Bank, along with other food banks across the country, is a great place for an introductory experience to volunteering. Many volunteers work side by side with other like-minded, community-oriented folks, inspecting and packing food for the homeless and others in need. According to their website GBFB volunteers contributed 62,000 hours of work which equates to over $1,000,000 worth of labor. That’s inspiring!
For other opportunities be sure to check the Boston listings on VolunteerMatch, a search engine for finding volunteering events