Our town twinning comittee did a St. Nicolas trip to our twinned city in the UK. Some years ago, the old St. Nicolas retired, and the comittee leader (a friend of ours) was desperately looking for a new one. She even asked her husband if he would glue a beard to his face (an idea which he was absolutely not keen of!). Then, one day we met in the city, and suddenly while we were chatting, she exclaimed “You have a beard!”

Indeed, I have a beard, and i have it way longer than we know each other, but that was beside the point. It is broad, long, and white. And I speak English rather fluently (it is not my native tongue), putting me into a perfect spot for this job.

And so I was volunteered…

I wanted to get up close to wild animals, so now I volunteer at the wildlife rescue. Hard work sometimes, but overall very rewarding and a lot of fun.

Yep, about evey month or so at a local children’s museum. I got a email at work decided to give it a try thinking maybe I’d meet a hot single mom or something.

But I actually do like helping the kids with their craft projects. It’s clear that someone of them don’t get the opportunity to really make a mess and build random stuff, I love be there to make that happen

I used to volunteer at libraries to teach elderly people digital literacy, how to use phones and computers to complete tasks they need etc and grow comfortable with their devices.

Unfortunately I couldn’t continue due to instability taking over my life. I’d like to do it again someday but I’m currently in too much need.

I write wikipedia pages, do OpenStreetMap editing and occasionally I go leafleting for my political party of choice

Yes. I volunteered for a couple months in Ukraine in a dog shelter and the volunteer kitchen in Lviv. I also volunteer to organize demonstrations in my city and occasionally I edit OpenStreetMap.

I help frogs and toads cross the road during mating season and count them.

I do. Counting ballets. They needed ppl so i signed up

FOSS and blood.

Yes. I contribute to Wikipedia and MusicBrainz.

I wanted to contribute to the online information sources that I always rely on, so I started activities on these two sites.

Offline, I work on organizing 78rpm-record collections left by local collectors.

I like music from before the LP era, and I learned about this activity through local media and decided to participate in the organizing work.

Yeah at the pet shelter here. Started coz i wanted to be around animals but now id feel guilty if i wanted to leave, they are so under staffed and under supported

Not really. I have always felt inches away from being a charity case and we have done a rediculous level of personal austerity. My father in law even said we were to cautious but our lives have proved again and again that is not so. I mean I have in the past but most of what I do is opportunity driven. I used to have a do I could walk off leash so I would carry a poop grabber and bucket and I would pick up other garbage along the way. My neighbors and I grab each others mail. Put carts away that are carelessly left in the grocery lot. It blows my mind sometimes now only the littel things people don’t do but the little bad things they do and both would not inconvenience them much at all. Someone who goes and serves food in a soup kitchen every week but won’t use their turn signal is like. what. I sorta get annoyed with charity. Like it should not be necessary. We should be collecting taxes and employing people and fixing most things on a societal level. So like I want to live in a progressive social democracy where the average person is low enough stress that they treat themselves and their fellow citizens and environment with respect and will take some marginal effort to fix things spur of the moment that crop up.

I started volunteering with my local Weed Warriors group. We tackle invasive vines and bushes that kill native trees and block out the understory for native plants. It’s really satisfying when you liberate a tree or rip out an invasive bush. I like the exercise and social connection too. Search to see if your community has a weed warrior group or other conservation group that does field work. They can have a training/certification program. Some improve hiking trails too.

I wish I could more, but I donate frequently. If I can’t give my time, I’ll give my money (to political campaigns, NPOs, etc.).

I used to volunteer in uni as part of the classes. I taught children creative writing, mostly. It was very fulfilling seeing children of all ages develop their own voices.

I volunteer for Tafel (meals on wheels). The former chairman of my wife’s band runs the logistics side and that’s how I got introduced.

I’m considering volunteering for the local shelter to pick up animals since I’m doing a lot of driving anyway.