Everyone wants to make their home a better place to live. Volunteering allows you to offer your time, attention, resources, and services to organizations and people who need it most. People volunteer for a myriad of reasons, but it is especially important to many retirees due to the sense of purpose, fulfillment, belonging, and the community it fosters.
Volunteers help make their communities stronger and more vibrant. For retirees, volunteering regularly can help you establish a new routine and meet other people who share your same interests.
One of the best parts of volunteering is that you can choose the type of work you want to do. If you have a green thumb, working with local parks, gardens, and beautification teams could be great for you. You may be an animal person and local shelters are always looking for new volunteers to help care for the animals and assist in the adoption process. Being a people person, you might love volunteering at local events, festivals, and markets around town.
Greenville especially is a hotspot for volunteers and their many talents. There are so many opportunities to give back to your community through volunteer work. Let’s look at some of the options that are available to you.
Why Volunteer?
The City of Greenville website says that the city hosts over 300 events each year. That is almost one event per day! With so many things going on in the city, they are always looking for volunteers to keep things going.
Greenville offers many partnership opportunities with non-profits and corporations alike. In 2018, Greenville partnering organizations contributed 1,364 volunteers spanning 7,772 hours which resulted in over $120,000 in donations to their organizations. As you can see, the city encourages volunteers and the reward is contagious leaving many wanting to get involved.
When you volunteer you are able to give back to the community, but it also helps you get to know the community better. Whether you have lived in Greenville for 30 years or you are a new transplant, volunteering can help you become better acquainted with the community and understand how you can help it grow.
Volunteer in Greenville
There are so many ways for you to use your talents to contribute to your community. Below, you will find details about a few of the volunteer opportunities you have in the Greenville, SC area.
City Opportunities
Piedmont Natural Gas Downtown Alive
If you are looking for a fun way to fill your Thursday nights, consider volunteering for this wonderful summer event running from March 21 through August 29, 2019. This event serves as the largest fundraiser for the Metropolitan Arts Council and features live music, food, drinks, and games.
Volunteers are needed to serve drinks, sell tickets, and greet guests. This event is a great way to get involved in the downtown scene and be apart of the cultural presence of the city.
Main Street Fridays
There is almost no better way to experience the local music scene than by volunteering for Main Street Fridays. Running from March through September, this 28-week free music event will showcase artists from a variety of musical genres from oldies to rock to indie to pop.
Volunteers are needed to serve drinks, sell tickets, and greet guests. Fans of music will be happy volunteering for this iconic Greenville summer event.
Artisphere
Art fans will love being a part of this cultural gem in Greenville. This event showcases the best visual and performing art locally, regionally, and nationally. The festival seeks to attract, delight, educate, and inspire all attendees while building a community through art.
Volunteers will be needed to serve beverages, watch booths, oversee daycare, help with finances, and greet guests. This wonderful event is May 10-12, 2019 and one you will not want to miss out on.
Community Improvement Opportunities
Greenville Literacy Association
This is a wonderful organization whose mission is dedicated to helping improve the lives of people in the community through literacy. Volunteers would help adult students improve their reading, writing, math, and English as a Second Language skill. These skills are highly important and your service will directly impact the lives of the people in your community.
Meals On Wheels Greenville
Everyone needs to eat, and a hot meal is even better. That is the premise that sparked the idea for this wonderful campaign. Volunteers deliver hot meals to those who cannot make food for themselves, primarily the sick and elderly.
Loaves & Fishes
This organization delivers perishable food to local human service agencies. These agencies feed the hungry nearly every day out of the year and help provide food to those who go without.
Habitat For Humanity Greenville
This wonderful organization builds houses for families in need. Homeowners purchase their homes at cost with affordable loans and aid in the process of building their own home. This organization provides fair, affordable housing to those who need it.
In Greenville, there is a subsection of Habitat for Humanity designed especially for women called Women Build. It is a group of all female volunteers who unite and raise funds to help build homes for needy single women with children.
Animal Opportunities
Hugs for Hounds
Animal lovers will fall head over heels for this organization that offers help to rescue, rehabilitate, and help adopt giant breed dogs and all breed puppies.
Animal Allies
This non-profit seeks to provide neutering services for dogs and cats at a low cost to help lower-income families.
Animal Care
Volunteers are needed at animal shelters to feed, clean, and care for the animals there. This can be anything from cleaning cages to walking the dogs. People who love animals will find a great reward from helping bring new life to these animals.
As you can see there are many opportunities to volunteer in Greenville. I urge you to look into some of these opportunities and many others that pique your interest. Giving back is such an important part of life and being able to connect with others while helping your community is truly a winning combination.